EESE  LIBRARY 


NIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

.  rSgW 

o^feyi 


^ 

, 

' 


INVESTIGATIONS 


EXPERIENCE 


M,  SHAWTINBACH, 


SAAR   SOONG,   SUMATRA. 


A 

RET  OR  SEQUEL  TO  "THE  MANATITLAHS,' 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


SAN  FBANCISOO: 

JOSEPH   WlNTEREUJBN    &    COMPANY,  PfilNTERS   AND   ELECTROTYPEES, 

417  Clay  Street,  between  Sansome  and  Battery. 

1879. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879, 

BY  E.  R.  SMILIE, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


DEDICATORIAL  INDEX. 


To  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  LAYMEN  OF  THE  S.  F.  A.  S. : 

In  assuming  the  privilege  of  dedicating  "the  papers"  addressed 
through  your  indefatigable  Secretary  to  your  theo-ret-ically  learned 
body,  I  am  aware  that  I  expose  myself  to  the  censorious  charge  of 
endeavoring  to  obtain,  in  a  surreptitious  way,  the  valuable  sanc 
tion  of  the  world- wide  reputation  you  have  gained  for  scientific 
wisdom.  But  when  I  appeal  openly  for  the  aid  of  your  theo-ret- 
ical  knowledge  in  elucidating  the  status  of  the  pre-historic  ante 
cedents  of  humanity,  in  confirmation  of  their  subsequent  record 
of  habits  and  customs,  it  should  disarm  censure  and  obtain  for 
me  the  indispensable  boon  that  I  require.  If  you  are  willing  to 
confer  the  service  that  I  solicit,  and  the  honor  of  accepting  the 
dedication  of  my  "Investigations  and  Experience  in  Saar  Soong," 
you  will  benefit  the  public  by  expressing  your  scientific  opinion, 
theo-ret-ically,  in  answer  to  the  following  queried  propositions: 

Imprimis— Would  instinctive  habit  and  custom,  in  your  opin 
ion,  produce  the  sensation  of  a  wag  in  the  spinal  elongation  of  the 
os-sacrum  and  coccygeal  caudal  continuations,  as  described  by 
Kan  A  van? — p.  7. 

Do  you  uphold  that  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Eve  retain  the 
rudimentary  hirsute  and  caudal  germs  of  the  vestments  that 
clothed  her  during  the  contentful  period  she  passed  in  Eden ;  and 
that  they  can  be  reproduced  by  the  cultivation  of  like  habits?— 
pp.  11-39,  inclusive. 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  resemblance  in  scenery  between  Eden 
and  Leslie  Holm  had  a  tendency  to  redevelop  pre-Adamic  impres 
sions,  that  resulted  in  birth  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of 
contentful  support?— p.  53. 

Are  there  limits  in  the  development  of  instinctive  habits  which 
exceed  the  educational  power  of  disciplined  imitation  ?— p.  56. 


11  DEDICATORIAL  INDEX. 

What,  in  your  estimation,  are  the  essentials  required  in  condu 
cive  aid  for  an  extended  longevity,  with  the  retention  of  the  men 
tal  faculties  in  a  normal  state  for  vigorous  expression? —p.  60. 

Is  not  the  fashionable  fondness  of  "  society  ladies  "  for  furs  an 
indication  derived  from  the  transmitted  impression  of  their  first 
self-supplied  dress  endowment? — p.  62. 

Which  do  you  consider  the  most  authentic,  the  Chinese  or 
Israelitish  record  of  the  world's  creation? — p.  65. 

In  your  opinion,  did  the  old  Serpent's  method  of  ascending  the 
toddy  tree  suggest  to  Archimides  the  invention  of  the  corkscrew? 
-p.  72. 

Do  you  maintain  that  it  was  from  over-indulgence  in  partaking 
of  the  forbidden  fruit  that  caused  the  loss  of  Adam  and  Eve's 
tails  and  depilation,  or  that  the  fruit  itself  was  the  destructive 
cause?— p.  79. 

In  your  opinion,  would  it  be  theo-ret-ically  advisable  to  reduce 
speech  within  the  limits  of  truthful  expression?— p.  87. 

Would  you  not  consider  a  fledged-tail  as  necessary  for  the  direc 
tion  of  angelic  flight  to  the  heavenly  and  nether  creed-ports  as  a 
rudder  to  a  vessel  for  ocean  navigation? — p.  90. 

Do  you  argue  from  the  caudal  extension  of  the  sacrum  and  os 
coccvx  affected  by  the  Gibbons'  missionary  labors,  that  it  was  lost 
by  retraction? — p.  105. 

In  your  estimation,  do  you  consider  the  knowledge  derived 
from  public  lectures  theo-ret-ically  practical? — p.  115. 

Does  sectarianism  serve  to  promote  union? — p.  119. 

Will  you  please  weigh  in  the  balance  of  your  opinion  and  judg 
ment  the  Chata  expositions  of  Doctor  Olu  Babi?— p.  120. 

Are  the  specie  variations  in  tail  manifestations  of  animality 
standard  indications  of  sagacity?— p.  131. 

What  influence  would  the  abridgment  of  an  animal's  tail  be 
likely  to  exercise  on  the  temper?— p.  142. 

Do  you  consider  the  emotional  intelligence  of  affection  the 
highest  source  of  happiness?— p.  155. 

Is  it  not  probable  that  the  Lord  God  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 
made  the  reservation  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  with 
the  disinterested  intention  of  preserving  the  Orang's  and  Wo- 
rang's  souls  (stomachs,  Proverbs  6:  30)  from  the  experience  that 
would  follow  the  evil  effects  produced  by  it— knowing  that  the 
evil  of  over-indulgence  would  beget  a  like  source  of  temptation 
that  would  destroy  grateful  affection  ?— p.  157. 


DEDICATORIAL   INDEX.  Ill 

Was  it  not  with  the  fore-ordained  intention  of  indicating  the 
advantages  of  self-legislation  that  he  made  the  prohibition? — 
p.  158. 

If  the  wo-rang  had  not  stolen  the  fruit,  or  toddy,  would  it  not 
have  preserved  her  posterity  from  the  multiplied  evils  of  law, 
medicine  and  theology? — pp.  161-178,  inclusive. 

In  your  opinion,  was  religion  the  curse  evolved  as  a  faith 
source  of  reprisal  for  the  penalty  of  transgression?  If  so,  does 
not  its  angelic  wing  attachment  to  the  immovable  scapula,  and 
lack  of  tail  for  rudder  direction,  show  clearly  crude  human  devise- 
ment  founded  upon  unregenerated  faith,  without  suitable  works 
for  the  attainment  of  its  object?- -pp.  162-178,  inclusive. 

Moreover,  does  not  the  Brazilian  ape's  recognition  of  the  ludi 
crous  attachment  of  the  Chinese  tail  to  the  head  show  an  innate 
perception  of  the  hereditary  influence  of  the  wo-rang's  devotional 
reverence  and  faith  in  the  old  Serpent's  god-like  attributes? — 
p.  179. 

As  an  architectural  device,  would  you  not  consider  Mahomet's 
adaptation  of  a  spire  consistent  for  eliciting  and  attracting  devo 
tional  worship  to  the  sacred  source  from  whence  it  emanated? — 
p.  179. 

Do  you  not  recognize  in  Mahomet's  foresight  the  revival  im 
pressions  that  attracted  the  followers  of  San-kee  to  witness  the 
marvelous  incoherency  of  expression  in  convert's  tail  translation 
from  Mood-ee? — pp.  168-188,  inclusive. 

Are  not  the  ideas  evolved  in  my  diaretical  observations  agree 
able  to  and  consistent  with  your  theo-ret-ical  notions? — pp.  197- 
201,  inclusive. 

Do  you  believe  in  the  constancy  of  tailiphonic  reciprocations 
founded  upon  faith  without  works? — p.  203. 

Can  you  imagine,  theo-ret-ically,  a  more  unselfish  sacrifice 
than  the  Patriarch's  bequeathment  of  his  tailacy  to  Bridget,  in 
perpetuity  for  the  redemption  of  her  own  despondency  from  the 
inherited  curse  of  Eve  and  the  wo-rang,  and  its  transmission  to 
her  posterity  as  a  tailismanic  heir-loom? — p.  175. 

In  argument,  would  you  support  the  affirmative,  or  negative, 
views,  of  the  question  of  cause,  whether  the  toddy,  or  the  loss  of 
her  tail  had  the  greatest  influence  in  provoking  the  wo-rang's 
revengeful  spite  when  she  found  that  her  first-born  inherited,  for 
reflection,  the  curse  of  her  trangression ? — p.  113. 

/^  OFTHE  *         \ 


IV  DEDICATOBIAL  INDEX. 

Will  your  knowledge  sustain  theo-ret-ically  the  legitimacy  and 
specific  effect  of  counter-irritation,  introduced  by  Eve  for  the 
correction  of  Cain's  sin,  imparted  from  the  hereditary  impression 
of  her  own  example?  or  vice  versa,  the  reaction  introduced  for 
the  cure  of  the  exampled  habits  of  the  senior  Kan  Avan  and  son 
by  Doctor  Olu  Babi?— pp.  205-213,  inclusive. 

Do  you  believe  that  the  abridgment  of  a  tail  provokes  meanness 
and  ferocity? — pp.  142-179,  inclusive, 

If  you  should,  as  a  body,  devote  yourselves  theoretically  to  the 
subject,  I  feel  certain  that  in  the  course  of  a  month  you  would  be 
able  to  revive,  for  practical  realization,  all  the  latent  impressions 
necessary  for  the  assurance  of  faith  in  caudal  regermination. — 
p.  148. 

Do  you  not  realize  that,  in  theo-ret-ical  and  practical  demonstra 
tion,  sectarian  multiplication  has  proved  the  curse  of  mankind,  as 
prophetically  denounced  in  the  beginning  and  illustrated  through 
the  bible  record ;  and  that  its  tendencies  are  for  the  reproduction 
in  arithmetical  progression,  of  Amaruthian  and  Gulosputian  dis 
positions? — pp.  11-251,  inclusive. 

Finis — As  a  practical  check  upon  the  progress  of  sectarianism, 
would  not  self-legislation,  in  the  exampled  method  adopted  by  the 
family  descendants  of  Abou  Ben  Isaacs,  produce  the  much-de 
sired  result  of  establishing  an  earthly  premonition  of  an  affection 
ate  immortality? — pp.  1-263,  inclusive. 

Yours,  Catechismatically, 

SHAWTINBACH. 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
CALIFORNIA; 


INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE 


OF 


M.SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA. 


SINGAPOOR,  March  18th,  1878. 
DEAR  MARVEL  : 

You  will  undoubtedly  be  surprised  to  learn  that 
I  have  turned  aside  from  the  beaten  track  of  scientific 
and  literary  investigation  common  to  travelers  ia  search 
for  relic  novelty,  to  establish  a  foundation  for  the  re- 
edification  of  past  usage.  The  cause  that  tempted  me 
to  become  an  apostate  to  the  hand-book  regulations  of 
society,  designed  for  the  perceptive  enlightenment  of 
instinctive  sense,  I  will  describe  in  as  brief  a  manner 
as  possible.  During  my  recent  voyage  from  Sedang 
Borneo  to  Singapoor,  on  board  of  the  armed  trading 
packet  Lorcha  Martha,  we  touched  at  the  port  of 
Banka  for  an  exchange  of  freight.  When  ready  to 
renew  our  voyage  we  received  on  board  as  passeDgers 
M.  Oderat,  a  Catholic  Missionary,  and  the  Eev.  Ben 
edict  Kantkin,  a  free-will  Baptist  Missionary,  who  had 
been  taken  prisoners  in  the  sack  of  Soordook  by  a 
chang,  or  band,  of  Look  Malay  pirates.  Their  lives 
had  been  spared  after  a  searching  examination  of  their 
acquired  abilities  for  useful  employment  ;  when  it  was 
discovered  that  the  former  was  a  skillful  French  cook, 
and  the  latter  a  capable  and  ingenious  jack-knife 
artist  ;  as  the  reputation  of  the  French  and  Yankees 
they  had  tested  in  these  specialties  of  nationality  by  a 
long  series  of  captures.  M.  Oderat  was  accompanied 


4  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

by  a  singular  being,  whose  physiognomy  betokened  an 
unusually  recent  ingraft  of  Celtic  scionry  with  the 
original  type  of  manhood.  After  the  missionaries'  lib 
eration  by  the  Rajah  Brooke,  they  were  "  interviewed" 
by  this  person  at  Abia,  who,  after  introducing  himself 
by  the  name  of  Patrommick  Kan-Avan,  commenced  a 
searching  inquiry,  to  learn  if  they  had  discovered  dur 
ing  their  captivity,  types  of  a  race  that  resembled  him. 
From  their  assurance  that  all  the  Ladinong  (Kubu 
Orangs,  styled  by  the  natives  refuse  men  of  ape  par 
entage,)  families  were  of  the  Malay  cast  of  features 
and  complexion,  he  asked  the  privilege  of  bearing 
Father  Oderat  company  in  his  homeward  journey.  As 
there  was  a  report  of  a  large  fleet  of  Malay  prahous 
lying  in  wait  for  traders  among  the  intermediate 
islands,  the  captain  of  the  Martha  determined  to  hug 
the  eastern  shore  of  Sumatra.  It  was  not  until  the 
day  after  we  had  gained  the  Sumatrian  shore  that  I 
ventured  to  accost  our  new  passengers,  as  they  seemed 
to  hold  themselves  aloof  from  association  through  fear 
of  an  impending  danger  that  threatened  a  second 
term  of  captivity.  While  doubling  a  point,  which  was 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  the  banian  mangrove, 
which  extended  into  deep  water,  we  discovered  a  party 
of  Kubu  Orangs  fishing  from  off  a  pack  of  drift  that 
had  lodged  against  the  inward  trend  of  the  northern 
shore.  As  their  features  were  regular  and  of  an  olive 
tint,  free  from  hair,  they  attracted  general  attention; 
the  Cingalee  Badda  and  Malay  sailors  seemingly  re 
garding  them  with  a  gaze  as  curious  as  our  own.  The 
captain,  well  acquainted  with  the  indications  of  deep 
water,  and  the  wind  serving,  ran  the  vessel  within  a 
few  fathoms  of  them,  so  that  we  mutually  gained  a 
clear  view  of  each  others'  faces.  Whenjwe  were  pass 
ing  their  position  they  rose  to  their  feet,  leisure!}', 
without  the  slightest  indication  of  fear,  but  evidently 
with  the  intention  of  getting  a  better  view  of  our  per 
sons,  which  were  partially  concealed  by  the  bulwarks. 
Their  bodies  were  well  formed,  although  covered  with 
hair,  and  in  stature  they  averaged  above  the  middle 
height  of  our  civilized  rank  and  file.  Although  lack 
ing  in  expression,  their  features  were  not  devoid  of 


VERSIT 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN 


all  traits  esteemed  essential  to  the  role  of  comeliness 
by  the  Caucasian  race.  Indeed,  it  was  hard  to  escape 
a  "favorable  conviction  in  their  behalf  by  a  comparison 
in  contrast  with  members  of  our  race,  who  would  be 
shocked  with  a  hint  of  relationship.  While  we  held 
each  other  in  close  review,  neither  party  seemed  in 
clined  to  express  by  signs  or  words  their  emotions  of 
surprise.  But  when  we  had  gained  an  offing  and  I 
had  recourse  to  my  sea-glass,  the  Orangs  raised  their 
hands  to  their  eyes  in  imitation.  The  scene,  when  it 
had  passed  from  view,  served  as  an  introductory  sub 
ject  of  conversation,  which  I  opened  with  the  inquiry, 
if  in  their  travels  in  Borneo  they  had  encountered 
specimens  of  the  Kubu  Orang  who  had  forced  upon 
them  a  like  conviction  of  relationship  ?  Father  Oderat 
did  not  seem  inclined  to  satisfy  my  curiosity,  but  Mr. 
Rantkin  said  that  the  Kubu  Orangs  of  Borneo  resem 
bled  the  species  from  which  they  sprung,  in  features, 
habits,  and  vindictive  ferocity,  and  were,  to  all  intents, 
soulless,  and  beyond  the  power  of  redeeming  grace. 
It  appeared  from  further  conversation  that  the  Malay 
masters  of  the  missionaries,  in  humorous  scorn  of  their 
pretensions  to  a  new  birth-alliance  with  their  gods, 
had  subjected  them  to  Kubu  task-masters. 

In  vindication  of  my  curiosity,  I  stated  that  the  ob 
ject  of  my  investigation  was  to  test  the  truth  of  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles',  Rajah  Brooke's,  Gibson's,  and  other 
scientific  travelers'  statements,  which  declared  an  ex 
isting  hybrid  compatibility  of  union  between  the 
Orang  and  clearly  defined  human  species.  Father 
Oderat  urged  that  it  was  quite  sufficient  for  us  to 
know  that  we  were  infallibly  human,  without  endeav 
oring  to  subvert  with  scientific  evasions  the  word  of 
God  !  When  I  urged  that  truth  was  a  creative  dis 
pensation,  designed  for  our  direction  to  a  higher  grade 
of  happy  attainment,  Mr.  Rantkin  referred  me  to  the 
tree  of  knowledge  and  its  fruit,  which  brought  sin  and 
death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woes  !  We  are  free 
will  agents,  he  continued,  and  with  the  efficacy  of 
prayer,  inspired  by  faith  in  the  written  word  of  God, 
we  can,  with  renewed  grace,  gain  a  newbirth  in  Christ, 
that  will  protect  us  from  temptations  of  the  devil, 


6  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

which  have  consigned  the  Malay  race  to  a  beastly  deg 
radation,  beyond  the  hope  of  redemption.  As  the  ex 
perience  of  the  missionaries  had  failed  to  enlighten 
their  understanding  for  a  clear  perception  of  practical 
evidence,  my  discretion  withheld  me  from  entering  the 
lists  of  argument. 

Kau  Avan,  while  the  Orangs  were  in  view,  kept  his 
hands  nervously  moving  up  and  down  his  back  be 
neath  his  coat-tails.  (His  coat  was  of  the  Irish  "  court 
dress  fashion/'  short  waist,  with  breast  lappels  to  cor 
respond,  and  long  swallow  tails.)  Notwithstanding 
the  mutual  fascination  of  gaze  caused  by  the  novel  en 
counter  of  evergent  specimens  of  humanity,  with  those 
in  an  apparent  state  of  proximate  emergence  from  the 
tadpole  period,  curious  glances  of  comparison  were 
attracted  from  them  to  the  person  of  Kan  Avan,  which 
he  could  not  fail  to  interpret,  although  they  were  in 
intention  void  of  offense. 

Having  inherited  a  predisposition  to  democracy,  I 
could  not  withhold  the  exclamation,  breathed  with  the 
aspiration  of  a  sigh,  "  Thank  God  I  have  now  seen  a 
primative  democrat  capable  of  appreciating  the  con 
stituent  rights  of  an  honest  equality!"*  This  enthusi 
astic  ejaculation  brought  Kan  Avan  to  my  side,  with 
the  exclamation,  "  An'  sure  you  are  a  gintleman  of 
sinse,  and  a  man  of  science  after  me  own  heart  !" 
Then,  as  if  conscious  of  attracting  attention,  he  re 
lapsed  into  silence,  while  M.  Oderat  and  Bantkin  an 
swered  my  inquiry  in  the  characteristic  style  of  their 
sects.  After  the  crew — off  watch — had  exercised  their 
ingenuity  in  pantomimic  burlesque  of  the  Orangs, 
stub  tails,  and  other  peculiarities,  in  the  Caucasian 
style  of  African  imitation,  and  the  passengers  had  re 
sumed  their  pipes  and  smoke  ruminations,  Kan  Avau, 
with  a  furtive  glance  deprecating  freedom  from  obser 
vation,  asked  me  if  I  would  favor  him  with  a  few  min 
utes  conversation  in  his  state-room  below.  In  compli 
ance,  I  joined  him  in  his  cabin,  and  after  he  had  set 
his  punkah  in  motion  (it  revolved  with  the  impetus  of 
clock-work),  and  refreshed  me  with  an  orange  beesep, 
flavored  with  champagne,  he,  with  evident  embarras- 
ment,  addressed  me  in  the  following  style  :  "If  I  had 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  Y 

not  been  convinced  that  you  was  a  gentleman  entirely, 
of  excellent  naturalistic  abilities  and  democratic  sym 
pathies,  I  should  never  have  been  drawn  out  to  con 
fide  in  you  a  family  secret  that  belongs  to  me  alone, 
as  I  am  not  altogether  certain  who  my  parental  ances 
tors  were,  for  I  never  had  a  home,  except  in  my 
adopted  country,  and  the  cradle  of  liberty, where  I  was 
naturalized.  For  all  that,  I  feel  at  times,  when  sub 
ject  to  strong  emotions  of  sympathy,  a  friendly  wag 
in  the  lower  portion  of  my  back,  but  this,  you  know, 
I  have  never  stated  openly,  as  my  modesty  could  never 
withstand  the  jibes  of  prejudice  ;  a  Father  Oderat, 
to  whom  I  confided  the  impression  as  a  confessional 
secret,  exorcised  the  idea  as  the  work  of  the  devil, 
who  labored  to  pervert  the  thoughts  of  mankind  into 
his  own  caudial  way  of  expression. 

"Now  when  we  came  so  suddenly  on  those  native  gen 
tlemen  who  were  fishing  apostolically,  I  could  not 
restrain  a  feeling  of  elation  in  my  back,  and  belikes 
the  same  when  you  expressed  so  energetically  your 
democratic  sympathies.  Not  that  this  emotional  wag 
— or  whatever  you  may  be  pleased  to  call  it — should 
make  you  think  that  I  am  in  any  way  related  to  the 
likes  of  them  in  the  matter  of  blood,  but  I  thought 
possibly  from  the  pleasurable  sensations,  it  might  in 
dicate  kindred  ties  of  affection  in  another  way !  You 
see,  I  thought  that  my  parents,  whom  I  have  heard 
lived  on  an  island  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  am  now 
in  search  for,  might  have  been  frightened  by  tl\e  sud 
den  appearance  of  a  native  about  the  premises!  You 
understand?  The  doctors  have  told  me  that  such 
things  are  likely  to  prove  hereditary.  Moreover,  al 
though  I  have  concealed  my  personal  impressions,  I 
have  often  been  asked  what  my  sensations  were  when 
I  visited  a  menagerie,  which,  you  know,  was  more  or 
less  an  insinuation  that  there  was  something  re 
markable  about  my  resemblance.  This  was  remarked 
by  a  doctor,  and  I  might  have  taken  it  in  dudgeon  as  a 
personal  insult,  but  I  knew  that  he  was  looney  on  the 
relationship  of  monkeys  to  the  human  species.  Besides, 
I  did  not  flatter  myself  that  he  reflected  a  personal 
resemblance,  for  I  take  it  that  I  am  considerably 


8  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

above  the  average  in  the  matter  of  distinguished  fea 
tures,  imposing  figure,  and  dignified  bearing.  With 
one  exception,  which  is  only  known  to  myself  and  my 
confessors,  and  is  not  perceptible  in  a  remarkable  de 
gree  with  my  coat  on,  I  imagine  that  but  few  gentle 
men  would  dare  treat  my  claims  to  a  Christian  descent 
cavalierly  by  a  hint  to  the  rudimentary  fact.  If  my 
birth  had  been  entailed,  I'm  sure  I  shouldn't  have 
taken  so  kindly  to  spiritual  influence  and  Christian 
doctrine.  Although  there  are  many  things  that  appear 
out  of  the  usual  course,  still  I  have  studied  enough 
scientifically  and  physiologically  to  believe  that  every 
thing  created  has  a  beginning  and  an  end,  as  well  as  a 
democratic  level,  if  we  don't  go  above  our  common 
origin.  At  any  rate,  if  you  can't  give  me  your  full 
sympathy,  and  believe  me  a  man  for  all  that,  you'll  be 
sure  to  keep  the  object  of  my  visit  to  Indgy  a  secret  ?" 

During  the  rambling  revelation  of  Kan  A  van,  my  at 
tentive  admiration  was  constantly  on  the  alert  to  de 
tect,  and,  if  possible,  to  separate,  the  hereditary  im 
pressions  of  the  spinal  chord  continuation  from  those 
of  the  brain;  as  it  is  a  fact  patent  to  the  knowledge  of 
all  who  have  been  abridged  of  a  member  that  all  its 
sensations  of  movement,  and  of  cold  and  heat,  are  re 
tained  with  scarcely  perceptible  diminution.  At  <  he  close 
I  assured  him  of  my  sympathy  to  the  extent  of  my  limit 
ed  capacity,  which  was  enhanced  by  a  feeling  of  friend 
ship  that  I  once  had  for  an  old  garden  pensioner 
that  with  the  privilege  of  familiarity  I  called  Jack, 
and  promised  to  aid  him,  to  the  extent  of  my  ability, 
in  his  parental  search.  Adding  my  commendations  in 
praise  of  an  affection  that  had  prompted  him  to  under 
take  a  filial  pilgrimage  in  search  of  the  shrine  of  pater 
nity,  our  cabin  interview  ended  with  his  grateful  pro 
testations  of  eternal  friendship;  but  his  simiathetic 
emotions  continued  to  well  up  long  after  our  return  to 
the  deck,  producing  a  corresponding  movement,  as  if 
to  bestow  upon  me  a  prehensile  grasp  in  acknowl 
edgment  of  gratification. 

As  you  will  readily  surmise,  I  adopted,  in  part,  his 
own  interpretation  of  the  cause  which  had  subjected 
him  to  this  hereditary  monomaniac  impression  of  en- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  9 

tailment.  But  the  captain  assured  me  that  he  had  con 
veyed  passengers  to  and  from  a  small  embarcadero,  or 
landing  place,  that  was  used  as  an  entrepot  for  a  large 
valley  estate  situated  between  the  two  interior  moun 
tain  ranges  of  Sumatra,  and  was  owned  by  an  eccen 
tric  English  family,  who  asserted  that  there  were  fam 
ilies  living  under  their  protection  who  acknowledged 
derivation  from  orang  and  European  parentage.  When 
our  preparations  for  landing  were  completed,  on  the 
day  of  our  arrival  in  the  port  of  Singapoor,  while 
standing  remote  from  the  throng  collected  in  the 
waist  of  the  ship,  Kan  Avan  approached  me  unobserv 
ed,  and  addressed  me  with  the  subdued  inquiry:  "Are 
you  quite  sure,  since  I  reminded  you  of  the  fact,  that 
you  have  never  felt  in  the  lower  part  of  your  spine  a 
prehensile  desire  to  clasp  an  object  of  affection  in 
warm  embrace?  or  a  lashing  paroxysm  when  subject  to 
a  fit  of  rage  ?  "  If  he  had  possessed  the  power  of  divin 
ation,  he  could  not  have  approached  nearer  the  cur 
rent  of  my  thoughts,  for  my  imagination  had  been 
bu?ily  engaged  in  supplying  the  motley  assemblage 
with  tails  for  pantomimic  gesticulation,  as  a  decisive 
check  upon  chattering  volubility,  which  served  to 
mystify  and  retard  negotiations  rather  than  as  an  aid 
for  amicable  adjustment;  and  in  reversion  had  just  re 
ferred  the  impression  for  the  judgment  of  my  own 
spinal  chord.  Of  course  his  question,  so  pat  for  the 
expression  of  my  own  humorous  ruminations,  caused 
me  to  smile  audibly,  which  served,  from  his  interpreta 
tion,  as  a  check  upon  further  communication,  but  as  he 
turned  to  go  below,  I  heard  him  mutter,  "  brevis  can- 
dam — it  can't  be  expected !  " 

Yours,  thoughtfully  in-tailed, 

WILHELM  SHAWTINBACH. 


CODICIL  FIKST. 

As  my  last  communication  signally  fails  to  cover 
the  exact  ethnological  information  I  have  obtained 
since  landing  at  Singapoor,  I  will  codicil  or  parcel  out 


(UNIVERSITY 


10  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

the  train  of  knowledge  that  chance  opportunity  has 
opened  to  my  view.  In  my  letter,  mention  was  made 
of  an  estate,  or  valley  range  between  the  interior 
mountain  sierras  of  Sumatra.  A  letter  of  introduction 
and  credit  to  Mr.  Skinner,  the  banker,  gained  for  me  a 
like  favor,  by  which  I  became  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Leslie,  whose  parents  and  relatives  cultivated  the  land 
for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  residents.  He,  with 
a  companion,  who  in  many  respects  bore  a  resemblance 
to  Kan  Avan,  had  just  returned  from  an  eight  years' 
study  of  the  world,  foreign  to  Sumatra,  and  were 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  employed  as  a  trans 
port  in  the  business  transactions  of  the  estate.  In 
person,  I  found  Mr.  Leslie  exceedingly  attractive,  but 
reserved  in  speech.  In  answer  to  my  inquiries  with 
regard  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  human  with  the 
orang  races,  he  stated  that  the  subject  had  become  op 
pressive  to  him,  from  the  disposition  of  the  self-styled 
enlightened  populations  to  question  any  deviation 
from  the  recognized  mysteries  heralded  from  the  past, 
and  while  abroad  he  had  studiously  avoided  topics 
which  were  likely  to  involve  him  in  theoretical  discus 
sions.  But  in  consideration  of  my  reputation  as  a 
"reasonable  being,"  comparatively  free  from  the  ruling 
prejudices,  which  rejected  the  happy  resources  of 
reality  for  the  illusions  of  vanity,  he  would  gratify  my 
desire  to  learn  the  facts  relating  to  the  settlement  of 
Saar  Soong  by  the  Dutch  predecessors  of  the  Dar- 
wings  and  his  family  ancestors.  Agreeably  to  his 
promise  he  brought  me  a  manuscript,  which  he  said  he 
had  prepared  before  leaving  home  to  avoid  the  dis 
agreeable  position  of  a  personal  relator,  which  would 
have  subjected  him  to  a  variety  of  questioning  annoy 
ances,  that  would  have  made  him  miserable  by  debar 
ring  him  from  the  quiet  observations  and  deductions 
which  had  tempted  him  from  his  happy  home.  As  he 
was  preparing  to  take  his  leave,  Kan  Avan  entered  the 
room  and  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Leslie,  who  seemed 
unaccountably  moved  by  the  peculiarities  of  his  per 
son.  Indeed,  his  eyes  scrutinized  the  person  of  Kan 
Avan  so  closely  that  he  was  fain  to  apologize  for  his 
unannounced  intrusion,  and  with  ruffled  composure 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  II 

left  the  room.  When  alone,  Mr.  Leslie  with  a  curious 
smile  requested  me  to  withhold  the  manuscript  from 
all  eyes  except  my  own,  and  then  departed.  Asa 
transcript  of  the  manuscript  was  not  interdicted,  I 
herewith  append  one  for  your  especial  benefit. 

W.   S. 


SUPPOSED  REINOCULATION,  OR  INGRAFT  OF  IHE  HUMAN  WITH 
THE  ORANG  SPECIES. 

In  the  year  1670,  Hans  Hersing  Vondermaiden,  a 
Dutch  shipmaster,  was  wrecked  in  a  cyclone  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  Sumatra,  but  fortunately  his  vessel 
was  driven  by  the  force  of  the  gale  quite  to  the  shore, 
over  a  banyan  mangrove,  upon  which  it  lay  cradled 
comparatively  free  from  injury,  and  in  a  position  easy 
to  be  relaunched  with  the  aid  of  another  vessel.  To 
procure  the  required  assistance  he  sent  a  boat  well 
provisioned  to  coast  down  the  eastern  shore,  with  the 
intention  of  reaching  Palembang,  where  a  settlement 
had  been  established  a  few  years  previous.  A  second 
expedition  he  dispatched  overland,  under  the  com 
mand  of  his  brother,  with  the  intention  of  reaching 
Pedang. 

The  boat  was  picked  up  by  a  Dutch  vessel  to  the 
south  of  Delhi  on  the  27th  day  from  the  wreck,  but 
the  captain  insisted  upon  completing  his  voyage  to 
Batavia  before  returning  to  render  assistance  to  his 
consort,  for  they  had  sailed  from  Amsterdam  in  com 
pany.  The  party  of  his  brother  had  been  driven 
back  by  the  natives,  after  having  reached  a  highland 
plateau  of  surpassing  beauty,  with  which  he  was  so 
enraptured  that  he  declared  his  determination  to  effect 
a  settlement  in  despite  of  the  natives,  if  they  succeed 
ed  in  obtaining  help  to  relaunch  the  ship.  In  due 
time  the  ship  was  restored  to  her  element,  and  Henri 
Vondermaiden  established  his  family  in  the  mountain 
valley  of  Saar  Soong.  Its  situation  and  surroundings 
were  singularly  remarkable  for  beauty,  and  its  alti 
tude  of  five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  insured  a  re 
freshingly  salubrious  atmosphere,  which  combined 


12  INVESTIGATIONS   AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

with  a  well-watered  fertility  of  soil  and  varied  adapta 
tion  for  the  production  of  temperate  and  tropical 
fruits,  rendered  it  surpassingly  desirable  as  a  place  of 
abode,  notwithstanding  the  great  distance  and  diffi 
culty  of  reaching  a  port  of  embarkation.  The  great 
est  of  its  apprehended  disadvantages  was  its  proxim 
ity  to  the  territory  of  a  colony  of  Cingalese  Baddas, 
who  had,  by  some  chance  gale,  been  transhipped  to 
the  Sumatrian  shore  with  an  apparent  increase  of  sav 
age  ferocity.  To  undertake  the  settlement  of  a  place 
so  remote  from  an  available  market  and  succor,  pre 
supposed  great  local  attractions  and  boldness  for  their 
successful  cultivation  and  retention.  The  courage  of 
the  Vondermaidens  was  peculiar  to  their  Dutch  origin, 
and  successful  from  its  daring,  which,  although 
adventured  with  seemingly  reckless  enterprise,  was 
in  fact  guarded  with  precautionary  provisions  in  an 
ticipation  of  the  possible  failure  of  their  schemes. 
Their  triumphant  control  of  their  savage  neighbors  for 
two-thirds  of  a  century,  without  an  outbreak  of  their 
ferocious  dispositions,  bespeaks  a  wisdom  of  judgment 
quite  opposite  to  the  reckless  ruthlessness  of  the 
American  settlers  of  English  and  Spanish  birth,  who 
provoked  the  vengeful  spirit  of  the  Indians  by  impo 
sitions  and  encroachments.  During  this  long  period 
they  had  not  only  managed  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
the  Baddas,  but  actually  obtained  from  them  laboring 
service  in  erecting  a  fortified  enclosure  to  provide 
against  the  contingency  of  future  enmity. 

They  were  also  employed  with  like  success  in  the 
cultivation  of  their  plantations,  and  in  the  educational 
process  subjecting  them  to  toiling  hardships  reproba 
ted  by  the  traditional  usages  of  their  progenitors.  The 
means  used  by  which  they  obtained  over  them  this 
directing  power  had,  in  the  hands  of  the  English  col 
onists,  from  alack  of  provisionary  discretion,  been  the 
cause  of  bloody  reprisals  for  impositions  practiced  un 
der  its  influence. 

The  Vondermaidens,  by  a  politic  combination  of  rites 
and  ceremonies  calculated  to  inspire  their  superstitious 
fears  with  religious  awe,  by  imposing  upon  them  the 
mechanism  of  the  still  surmounted  by  curiously  carved 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA  13 

gods  as  the  presiding  controllers  of  its  spiritual  dis 
pensations,  so  wrought  upon  the  Baddas  that  they  be 
lieved  the  Dutch  to  be  the  Lushvedas,  or  prophets  of 
their  god  Vishnu,  who  held  celestial  control  over  the 
mouth,  stomach,  and  belly  By  wise  decree,  Sunday 
was  held  sacred  as  a  day  of  rest,  that  the  Saturday 
night's  communicants  might  recover  from  the  effects 
of  their  potations.  Father  Anslem,  in  his  confessional 
record,  uses  the  following  language:  "  So  bigoted  had 
these  benighted  heathens  become  in  a  single  year,  that 
those  unable  to  walk  to  the  temple  of  the  still  to  par 
take  of  the  spirit  of  their  faith,  in  commemoration  of 
their  god's  triune  attributes,  were  brought  on  their 
relative's  backs;  but,  often  from  worshipful  excess  in 
devotional  zeal,  were  obliged  to  pass  the  night  in  a 
trance  state  upon  the  ground  beside  their  bearers.  As 
the  desired  effects  depended  on  its  skillful  administra 
tion,  under  the  influence  of  imposing  rites  designed  for 
producing  an  impression  of  awe,  the  office  of  grand 
high  priest  devolved  on  me,  after  the  death  of  my  pre 
decessor  Padre  Simon,  who  used  less  discretion  in  the 
control  of  his  own  devotion  to  the  sacramental  waters 
than  he  exercised  over  his  savage  participants,  it  may 
appear  strange  that  I,  an  ordained  priest  of  our  most 
holy  church  and  the  Society  of  Jesus,  should  be  guilty 
of  a  profanation  of  the  most  sacred  eucharistic  rites  of 
transubstantiation;  but  the  manifest  good  imparted  for 
holding  the  ferocious  instincts  of  the  savages  under 
control  for  more  mature  christianization  sanctified  the 
means  and  made  it  acceptable  in  like  manner  with  the 
acts  of  our  great  exemplar.  From  the  effects  produced 
we  studied  their  individual  welfare,  and  by  tempering 
the  means,  controlled  the  spiritual  manifestations.  As 
you  will  readily  comprehend,  there  were  no  laggards 
to  the  communion  service,  as  in  our  churches  at  home, 
notwithstanding  the  exaction  of  other  tithes  than  those 
derived  from  the  labor  of  hands,  which  exceeded  in 
value  the  cost  of  the  ceremonial  rites.  At  first  we 
dreaded  exposure  from  envious  adventurers,  who  would, 
like  the  dog  in  the  manger,  seek  to  deprive  us  of  what 
in  naught  could  avail  them,  as  it  would  insure  their 
own  with  our  destruction.  But  gradually  the  earnest 


14  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

improvement  of  our  neophytes  banished  fear,  for  they 
became  so  completely  subject  to  our  control,  and  withal 
aware  of  their  happy  change  in  the  protective  provi 
dence  of  domestic  economy,  it  would  have  gone  hard 
with  the  interloper  had  he  ventured  to  expose  our  im 
positions,  which  had  proved  so  practically  beneficial. 
The  scheme  having  been  fully  matured  in  the  begin 
ning,  none  were  allowed  to  participate  in  the  secret 
influence  of  the  temple- still  but  trustworthy  persons. 
The  mystery  of  the  temple,  which  was  built  in  a  deep 
glen  at  a  great  distance  from  the  fortified  enclosure 
and  cultivated  portions  of  the  valley,  was  as  much  a 
subject  of  gossiping  speculation  with  the  servants  of 
the  family,  from  its  style  of  architecture  and  surround 
ings,  as  of  reverential  awe  to  the  Baddas.  Imme 
diately  after  my  induction  as  priest,  I  will  acknowledge 
that  the  deception  I  was  abetting  caused  me  great  dis 
quietude,  from  self  accusations  that  I  could  not  repress 
by  any  manner  of  reasoning  with  which  I  had  been  ac 
customed  to  sustain  my  acts.  But  Mynheer  Vonder- 
maiden  was  more  happy  in  his  endeavors  to  quiet  my 
scruples  of  conscience,  for  he  explained  that  the  Bad- 
das  were  as  wild  in  their  appetites  as  the  beasts  of  the 
forests,  and  could  not  be  made  to  work  for  their  own 
advantage  without  the  stimulating  deception,  or  con 
trolled,  if  once  they  were  made  to  understand  that 
the  Geneva  Baptism — as  he  facetiously  styled  the  dis 
tilled  liquor — was  the  juice  transformed  from  fruits  fur 
nished  by  themselves.  Moreover,  in  vindication  of  his 
invention,  he  urged  the  example  of  our  own  people, 
who,  when  they  used  spirits  freely,  did  not  hesitate  to 
set  at  defiance  laws  of  restraint  and  penalties  while 
subject  to  the  influence.  "  How  long/'  he  asked,  with 
apprehensive  sincerity,"  would  your  missionary  prayers 
and  teachings  restrain  their  ferocity  in  its  natural  state, 
or  should  we  be  able  to  defend  our  lives  if  their  in 
stincts  once  became  maddened  with  its  uncontrolled 
use  ?  Furthermore,  you  cannot  withhold  your  convic 
tions  that  it  is  other  than  an  honest  deception,  for  by 
its  cautious  dispensation  we  control  rather  than  excite 
their  evil  passions,  which  could  not  be  reached  by  rea 
son  or  your  religion.  With  like  effect,  the  supersti- 


x  V 

M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  15 

tious  blindness  of  our  commonality  subjects  tliem  to 
your  control  from  the  imaginary  efficacy  of  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  your  church.  But  our  Geneva  Bap 
tism  affords  you  more  effectual  evidence  of  its  efficacy, 
in  the  conversion  of  a  commonality  of  Baddas  into  sub 
jects  capable  of  being  controlled  for  their  own  and 
others'  good,  without  being  able  to  raise  themselves, 
unaided  by  the  deception,  upon  the  foundation  we 
have  established  for  mutual  protection/'  Although  I 
felt  keenly  the  truth  of  his  sceptical  insinuations,  I 
could  not  forbear  checking  him  for  his  lack  of  rever 
ence  for  things  sacred.  "  But,"  he  continued  smiling, 
"is  it  not  enough  to  satisfy  your  craving  that  the  Bad- 
das  reverence  you  in  your  new  vocation,  which  has 
enabled  you  to  accomplish  much  good  in  their  behalf, 
without  making  me  subserve  their  part  in  your  ancient 
imaginary  role  of  faith  ?"  Notwithstanding  his  irrev 
erent  disposition  to  sneer  at  the  holy  rites  of  the 
church,  I  could  not  withhold  my  admiration  for  his 
great  practical  powers  of  judgment  shown  in  antici 
pating  the  means  of  controlling  the  savage  passions, 
and  was  even  glad  to  hear  him  acknowledge  that  he 
copied  from  our  church  method.  Although  equivo 
cally  using  the  heretical  name  of  the  stronghold  of 
fanaticism  for  the  designation  of  the  spirit  of  Badda 
transubstantiation,  which  produced,  he  urged,  instead 
of  faith,  influential  fact,  I  held  my  peace,  for  I  was 
unwilling  to  expose  my  weakness  by  argument;  for  I 
could  not  fail  to  perceive  that  the  virtue  of  his  inven 
tion  resided  in  the  ritual  discretion  of  administration, 
which  the  bare  ceremonials  of  our  church  could  not 
reach ;  as  faith  without  works  would  prove  a  stumbling 
block  to  savage  comprehension. 

With  this  descriptive  insight  into  the  paradoxical 
method  of  the  Vondermaidens'  adoption  for  holding 
the  savage  instincts  of  the  Baddas  in  subjection,  we 
will  now  proceed  to  note  the  opposite  policy  of  the 
Darwings,  their  relatives,  and  successors  to  Saar 
Soong,  who  threw  off  the  ritual  disguise  necessary  for 
the  control  of  superstitious  instinct.  Fortunately,  for 
the  purpose  of  clear  demonstration,  Father  Anslem 
has  portrayed  the  phlegmatic  self-restraint  of  the  Dar- 


16  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

wings'  Netherlandic  predecessors,  who  never  allowed 
their  covetousness  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  prudence. 
By  making  the  gin-flavored  products  of  the  still  the 
means  of  inspiring  the  trustful  confidence  of  super 
stitious  reverence — founded  upon  the  exhilarating 
properties  skillfully  managed — they  not  only  shielded 
their  own  lives,  but  were  able  to  confer  real  benefits 
upon  their  unwitting  dupes.  Unlike  their  European 
neighbors, Ithe  Batavians,  in  founding  colonies,  studied 
the  savage  characteristics  of  the  aborigines  for  the 
purpose  of  utilizing  their  services  without  subjecting 
them  to  absolute  slavery  ;  and  while  allowing  them 
the  nominal  impression  of  freedom — which  serves  as 
a  placebo  for  the  boast  of  the  citizen  demagogue — 
they  obtained  an  amount  of  labor  that  never  could  be 
forced  by  the  task-master  from  the  real  slave.  The 
Darwings,  on  their  accession,  were  advised  to  continue 
the  temple  rites  of  the  still,  and  were  warned  by  the 
priests  of  the  fatal  result  that  would  follow  from  the 
sale  of  ardent  spirits  to  the  Baddas.  But  the  father, 
who  had  married  the  sole  surviving  daughter  of  the 
last  Vondermaiden  inheritor  of  JSaar  Soong,  was  of 
the  Hebrew  race,  and  had  been  educated  in  Holland 
among  his  people,  whose  dispositions  have  never  in 
clined  them  to  become  cultivators  of  the  soil,  as  the 
time  between  seed  season  and  harvest  would  be  es 
teemed  by  them  lost,  as  it  gave  no  material  evidence 
of  compounding  monthly  interest  upon  the  investment. 
The  advice  of  the  priests  was  received  with  the  secta 
rian  spirit  of  disdain,  and  when  once  entered  upon 
his  proposed  career  of  lt  reform  " — which  in  substance 
meant  quick  barter  returns — he  could  not  turn  back 
and  cover  the  exposure  he  had  made  of  his  predeces 
sors'  impositions,  as  the  savages  were  unable  to  dis 
tinguish  the  casuistical  difference  between  a  dispen 
sation  of  evil,  under  the  guise  of  deception,  for  good, 
and  its  open,  free-will  exchange  upon  the  same  terms. 
In  the  second  year  after  the  establishment  of  the 
new  regime,  scarcely  a  characteristic  vestige  remained 
to  mark  the  improvement  that  had  been  wrought  in 
the  physical  condition  of  the  Baddas  by  the  Vonder 
maiden  dispensation  of  the  "  Geneva  Baptism." 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  17 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1737,  after  all  communica 
tion  with  the  coast  had  been  closed  for  two  months  by 
an  insurrection  of  the  Baddas,  they  surprised  the 
guards  of  the  fortified  enclosure,  and  after  gaining  an 
entrance,  killed  Mr.  Darwing  and  all  the  servants. 
But  Mrs.  Darwing  with  her  boyra  (Kandyan  nurse) 
and  three  young  children  escaped  from  a  postern  gate 
and  had  nearly  gained  the  jungle  when  they  were  over 
taken  by  a  Malay  half-breed,  a  rejected  lover  of  the 
nurse,  who  with  his  kyrta  (a  long  kris  dagger)  made  a 
lunge  at  Mrs.  Darwing's  breast,  but  the  nurse  averted 
his  intention  by  seizing  his  arm,  which  caused  its  point 
to  gash  the  face  of  the  infant  she  carried.  The  boyra 
sprung  upon  the  vengeful  wretch  with  a  foster-moth 
er's  desperation,  and  holding  his  arms  pinioned  with 
her  own,  called  upon  the  mother  to  escape  with  her 
'children.  The  mother  in  stooping  to  recover  the  child 
she  had  dropped,  came  within  reach  of  the  struggling 
savage  who  plunged  his  knife  into  her  body.  She  with 
an  answering  groan  seized  her  child  and  fled  to  the 
forest  with  dying  energy,  her  elder  children  following 
clinging  to  her  skirt  with  the  clutch  of  fright.  The 
brave  boyra,  inspired  with  the  courage  of  desperation 
for  the  preservation  of  her  foster  children  held  the 
struggling  fiend  until  they  entered  the  forest,  then 
feeling  that  her  strength  was  failing,  she  summoned 
its  remaining  energy  and  wrenched  the  kyrta  from  his 
grasp  and  without  hesitation  killed  him.  Released  by 
this  decisive  act  from  detention,  she  searched  the  for 
est  for  her  lost  charges,  but  only  succeeded  in  finding 
the  mother,  who  was  in  a  dying  condition  and  past 
the  power  of  speech,  but  gave  the  faithful  boyra  to 
kens  of  grateful  recognition.  Continuing  her  search 
until  the  third  day,  she  was  warned  of  her  danger  by 
discovering  a  band  of  Baddas  on  her  trail,  when  she 
was  obliged  to  seek  security  for  her  own  safety  in 
flight.  After  many  weary  days  passed  in  danger  she 
reached  Delhi,  on  the  eastern  coast,  where  she  "  took 
service  "  with  a  Dutch  family  who  had  often  visited 
"  Geneva  Shiedam,"  as  they  had  in  the  days  of  the 
Vondermaidens  familiarly  styled  Saar  Soong.  Her 
tidings  of  the  massacre,  although  they  shocked,  did 


18  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

not  surprise  those  acquainted  with  the  change  of  pol 
icy  adopted  by  the  Darwings. 

LESLIE  ERA. 

My  great  grandfather  had  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  last  Vondermaiden ,  who  was  patrooii  of  Saar 
Soong,  at  the  Dutch  factory  of  Chinsura  in  India, 
where  he  had  rendered  him  some  service  which  had 
gained  his  warm  friendship,  and  an  invitation  to  visit 
his  Sumatra  home,  especially  if  his  Indian  service 
should  impair  his  health  and  make  a  change  of  cli 
mate  necessary.  In  furtherance  of  his  invitation,  he 
gave  him  a  carte-blaDche  for  a  passage  in  any  of  the 
Dutch  Company's  ships,  with  orders  for  his  being 
landed  at  the  Saar  Soong  entrepot.  His  employment 
in  the  East  India  Company's  service  soon  gave  him 
occasion  to  accept  the  proffered  invitation,  from  ill 
health  engendered  from  over-work  and  exposure,  and 
in  company  with  his  wife  and  two  children,  the  young 
est  a  nursing  infant,  they  arrived  in  safety  at  Saar 
Soong  and  were  received  with  an  affectionate  zest  that 
outrivalled  in  attentive  solicitude  fraternal  ties.  Still 
the  visit  was  the  cause  of  life-long  sorrow.  After  five 
months  had  been  spent  in  the  most  useful  and  agree 
able  entertainments  and  employments  that  ingenious 
hospitality  could  suggest,  an  event  transpired  that 
created  the  greatest  consternation  in  the  household, 
and  a  source  of  mourning  solicitude  to  my  great- 
grand-parents  that  exceeded  in  poignancy  the  severed 
bereavement  by  death  of  the  most  endeared  ties  of 
relationship.  From  the  first  years  of  the  settlement 
it  had  been  the  custom  of  the  proprietors  to  devote  a 
distant  portion  of  the  valley,  which  was  exposed  to  a 
wooded  ghaut  or  mountain  pass,  to  the  cultivation  of 
melons  as  a  peace  food  offering  to  tribes,  or  changs, 
of  the  wild  Gibbous  and  Kubu  Orangs  which  paid 
periodical  visits  to  the  estate  and  enacted  the  part  of 
gipsies.  Indeed,  it  is  a  tradition  well  sustained  by 
habits  and  customs,  that  traces  the  gipsies'  origin  from 
the  Orang  changs  of  India.  My  grand-parents  had 
been  advised  on  their  first  arrival  to  keep  their  chil- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  19 

dren  constantly  in  view,  and  to  make  the  necessity 
imperative,  numerous  instances  were  related  of  the 
disappearance  of  visitors'  children  from  their  cradles, 
which  were  never  seen  or  heard  from  afterwards. 

The  apprehension  of  a  catastrophe  so  fearful,  caused 
my  grandmother  to  take  charge  of  her  own  children, 
the  aya  acting  as  an  aid.  On  the  lamentable  day  of 
her  loss  she  left  the  infant  in  the  cradle  and  stepped 
into  an  adjoining  room  without  closing  the  door  and 
turned,  only  for  a  moment,  to  secure  a  fan,  but  on  her 
return  to  the  cradle  she  found  it  empty!  A  glance  at 
the  open  trerne  (bamboo  lattice  window-blind)  an 
nounced  the  fate  of  her  child,  and  with  a  fearful  out 
cry  she  alarmed  the  household.  But  a  few  moments 
elapsed  before  the  servants,  under  the  direction  of  the 
practiced -hunters  of  the  estate,  were  in  full  career  for 
the  boothies  of  orangs  at  the  opening  of  the  ghaut 

Notwithstanding  the  utmost  speed  was  used,  they 
found  the  boothies  deserted,  but  everything  about 
them  indicated  a  recent  and  sudden  flight,  and  the 
pursuit  was  continued  up  the  ghaut.  When  the  sum 
mit  was  reached  and  a  point  gained  that  overlooked 
the  wooded  gorge,  and  a  second  pass  in  the  range  of 
mountains  beyond,  the  chang  was  discovered  in  full 
swing  from  tree  to  tree,  with  a  swaying  of  branches  in 
advance,  which  showed  that  the  main  body  had  gained 
a  start  that  rendered  further  pursuit  hopeless.  The 
fact  that  a  child  stolen  by  the  orangs  had  never  been 
recovered,  did  not  deter  my  grandparents  from  con 
tinuing  the  search,  which  was  prosecuted  with  the  ut 
most:  vigor  for  the  space  of  three  months  by  large 
parties  starting  from  different  points,  so  that  in  range 
it  embraced  a  good  portion  of  the  island,  and  in  result 
greatly  diminished  the  orang  population. 

At  length  they  became  impressed  with  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  farther  search,  and  inconsolable  re 
turned  to  India.  The  Vondermaidens,with  a  desire  to 
impart  the  assurance  of  their  heartfelt  sympathy,  prom 
ised  they  would  use  their  best  efforts  for  the  recovery 
of  the  child.  But  from  that  period,  during  the  life  of 
the  lastVondermaiden,  an  orang  was  never  seen  in  the 
Saar  Soong  valley. 


20  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

Twelve  years  after  the  Darwing  massacre,  when  the 
sale  of  the  estate  of  Saar  Soong  was  announced,  my 
grandmother's  yearnings  for  her  lost  child  induced 
my  grandfather  to  purchase  it.  Well  aware  of  all  that 
had  transpired,  and  the  nature  of  the  Badda  disposi 
tion,  my  grandfather  felt  confident  that  he  could,  with- 
ont  excessive  severity,  enforce  from  them  obedience 
from  the  first,  and  in  train  enlist  their  willing  smpa- 
thy.  During  the  first  year  he  was  obliged  to  have 
frequent  recourse  to  arms  for  subjecting  the  turbulent 
to  his  control,  but  gradually  with  the  contrast  of  kind 
treatment  to  the  deserving  he  finally  succeeded  in  forc 
ing  them  to  recognize  the  difference  between  good  and 
evil.  But  full  ten  years  were  required,  with  the  re 
duction  of  the  tribe  to  one-third  of  its  original  num 
ber,  before  they  could  be  made  to  realize  that  a  per 
sistence  in  treachery  would  result  in  extermination. 
At  last,  by  a  systematic  course  of  forced  labor  under 
taskmasters,  he  made  them  understand  that  the  culti 
vation  of  the  soil  would  yield  them  all  that  they  re 
quired  for  comfort,  with  a  zest  for  its  enjoyment. 
After  he  had  conquered  subjection  to  his  kind  inten 
tions,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  education 
for  the  reclamation  of  their  children's  instincts  from 
the  hereditary  impression  of  evil.  For  the  accomplish 
ment  of  this  purpose,  he  established  separate  nurseries 
for  the  male  and  female  children,  so  that  they  might 
be  withheld  from  parental  example  in  association,  al 
lowing  the  mothers  to  give  them  daily  nourishment, 
and  the  fathers  occasional  opportunities  to  witness 
their  improvement  for  the  encouragement  of  affection 
ate  pride.  He  acknowledged  that  he  had  received  the 
hint  for  this  inductive  system  of  education  from  the 
course  adopted  by  the  English  stock-breeder  for  the 
improvement  of  calves  and  colts.  When  the  Baddas 
began  to  realize  the  pleasure  afforded  from  the  self- 
supplied  products  of  cultivation,  and  were  no  longer 
dangerous  to  the  unwary,  my  immediate  grandfather 
derived  great  pleasure  from  the  "  friendly"  visits  of 
those  who  had  foreboded  their  irreclaimable  nature, 
and  that  his  father's  family  would  follow  the  Dar- 
wing's  lead.  When  he  was  well  advanced  in  years, 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  21 

one  of  his  guests,  an  inveterate  hunter,  under  the 
guidance  of  a  Badda  forester,  strayed  into  the  remote 
portion  of  the  valley,  at  the  opening  of  the  ghaut  for 
merly  cultivated  by  the  Vondermaidens  for  the  pro 
duction  of  melons  as  a  food  offering  to  the  Orangs, 
which  still  retained  in  a  wild  state  its  fruitful  impres 
sion.  While  resting  under  a  tamarisk,  his  eyes,  in 
glancing  over  the  beautiful  landscape,  caught  sight  of 
what  appeared  to  him  like  a  Passumah  Arab  woman  of 
the  coast.  But  as  she  approached  nearer,  her  peculiar 
features,  scanty  covering,  and  movements  betrayed 
Orang  source  and  association.  Yet  there  was  appar 
ently  a  nearer  kindred  alliance  to  the  Caucasian  race. 
Becoming  alarmed,  she  sprang  upward  and  caught 
with  her  right  hand  the  limb  of  a  teconia  tree,  and,  as 
she  hung  suspended,  gazed  intently  along  the  wooded 
border  of  the  valley.  Then  suddenly  changing  hands 
in  her  grasp  on  the  limb,  in  movement  as  though  she 
had  caught  sight  of  an  unwelcome  object,  she  gave  the 
startled  cry  of  "  Maa,"  in  prolonged  accent  like  that 
of  the  kid.  In  a  few  moments  she  was  joined  by  an 
other  woman,  who  appeared  to  be  her  mother,  but 
with  a  face  of  unmistakable  European  cast.  With  ex 
cited  curiosity  and  a  hunter's  cunning,  he  gained  a 
nearer  view,  and  noted  that  the  mother's  face  was 
marked  with  a  scar  that  reached  from  the  temple  to 
the  angle  of  the  mouth. 

This  reminded  him  of  the  boyra's  encounter  with 
the  half-breed,  and  he  felt  assured  that  the  mother 
represented  the  Darwing  child,  which  had  been  res 
cued  and  held  in  association  by  the  Orangs,  and  he 
was  impressed  with  the  unpleasant  conviction  that  one 
of  the  species  shared  with  her  the  parentage  of  the 
daughter. 

The  distant  boom  of  an  Orang's  voice  confirmed  his 
suggestion  of  paternity  from  the  effect  it  produced 
upon  mother  and  daughter,  which  in  similitude  was 
not  confined  to  the  grade  of  her  alliance.  As  the  ap 
proaching  sound  of  the  voice  became  more  distinct 
and  disagreeable  in  its  harshness,  they  swung  them 
selves  from  branch  to  limb  with  a  peculiar  impetus 
and  measured  certainty  of  grasp  that,  with  its  accom- 


22  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

plished  ease  in  freedom  from  labored  effort,  quite  sur 
prised  him  with  involuntary  admiration 

Gaining  a  large  teconia  tree  they  disappeared  among 
its  branches;  a  nearer  inspection  of  it  discovered  a 
large  booth  covered  in  from  the  topmost  branches  en 
closing  the  trunk.  The  hunter's  curiosity  was  checked 
by  the  Badda  forester,  who  pointed  to  the  waving  jar 
of  the  tree  tops  but  a  few  hundred  yards  distant;  this 
warning  was  sufficient  to  hasten  their  retreat. 

Ascending  a  wooded  hillock  they  obtained  a  full 
view  of  the  chang  as  it  crossed  a  brook  that  flowed 
into  the  valley.  It  numbered  sixty  adult  orangs  of 
mixed  species,  and  a  sportive  representative  band  of 
youths  of  both  sexes,  who  seemed  to  take  special  de 
light  in  delaying  the  homeward  progress  of  their  pa 
rents,  each  party  showing  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
their  human  cousins  disentailed  traits  of  disobedience 
and  style  of  correction  Immediately  on  his  return 
to  the  Holm  (the  estate  had  been  named  Leslie  Holm 
after  its  purchase  by  my  great  grandfather)  he  related 
his  discovery,  and  a  council  was  held  to  devise  means 
to  recover  the  human  representative  of  the  chang.  The 
boyra  of  the  Darwing  children,  who  had,  as  a  native 
born  on  the  estate,  received  and  accepted  an  invitation 
to  become  a  member  of  the  Leslie  family,  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  orangs'  habits,  recommended  that 
the  melon  garden  should  be  again  cultivated  to  en 
courage  their  return.  For,  with  reason,  she  urged, 
that  any  attempt  to  separate  the  human  members  from 
their  alliance  with  the  chang,  by  force,  would  send 
them  back  to  their  retreat,  which  had  never  yet  been 
discovered,  so  that  the  object  they  had  in  view  would 
be  defeated.  She  then  reminded  my  grandfather  of 
the  Badda  orangs — so  called  from  the  hybrid  cast  de 
rived  principally  from  the  characteristics  of  their 
union — which  his  father  had  aided  in  an  attempt  to 
exterminate  before  the  loss  of  his  child.  These  and 
the  Kubu  orang  had  always  been  enemies,  and  knew 
each  other's  haunts,  so  that  by  conciliating  the  instincts 
of  the  higher  class  the  remnant  of  the  Badda  troglo 
dytes  could  be  discovered  During  the  first  years  of 
the  Vondermaidens'  reign  over  Saar  Soong  these  hy- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  23 

brid  orang  Baddas  were  preferred  above  their  more 
savage  relatives  of  more  distant  genealogy,  for  they 
possessed  in  a  small  way  an  idea  of  mechanical  con 
struction,  inclining  to  the  tinkering  disposition  that 
distinguishes  the  gipsies  of  the  past  and  present  day. 
But,  as  with  their  present  type,  the  labor  was  not  one 
of  love,  the  vocation  having  evidently  been  adopted 
as  a  means  of  obtaining  knowledge  for  successful 
depredations  and  duping  their  employers.  One  of 
their  most  dangerous  acquirements  was  the  art  of 
throwing,  or  rather  slinging  stones  from  the  hand, 
which  they  accomplished  with  such  force  and  precision 
that,  within  range,  they  were  as  deadly  in  effect  as  the 
musket  bullet.  Some  time  before  my  grandparents' 
visit  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  wan'dering  over  the 
island  in  detached  parties,  and  had  obtained,  in  a  rude 
way,  a  knowledge  of  fermenting  and  distilling  ardent 
spirits.  From  this  period  they  became  dangerous  and 
disgusting  neighbors,  and  on  the  occasion  referred  to 
by  the  boyra,  they  had  actually  laid  seige  to  the  forti 
fied  stronghold,  and,  although  despised  and  ridiculed 
at  first,  they  soon  taught  the  besieged  a  lesson  that 
forced  them  to  respect  their  own  lives  in  withholding 
their  bodies  from  exposure.  Their  dispersion  was 
accomplished  finally  by  stratagem  and  with  great 
slaughter,  which  was  continued  until  my  grandfather, 
who  conducted  the  defense,  discovered  some  pitiable 
evidences  of  affection  manifested  by  the  troglydite 
women,  when  he  stopped  the  carnage.  The  incident 
that  excited  his  emotions  of  pity  was  the  sight  of  a 
woman,  in  a  quadrupedal  position,  bearing  off  her 
wounded  lord  upon  her  back,  whose  love  of  life  still 
retained  sufficient  affection  for  his  spouse,  to  hold 
himself  upon  her  body  without  impeding  her  move 
ments.  The  other  women,  although  they  apparently 
understood  the  cause  of  their  lives  being  spared,  hesi 
tated  in  following  her  example,  with  the  evident  fear 
of  establishing  a  precedent  for  vehicular  transporta 
tion  that  their  burdens  might,  upon  a  future  occasion, 
after  their  recovery,  enforce  for  their  pleasure.  When 
the  field  of  slaughter  was  rid  of  its  surviving  incum- 


24  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

bents,  the  question  arose  whether  it  would  be   better 
to  bury  or  burn  the  dead  ? 

The  "  fanatic5  Hindoos  advocated  burning,  that  the 
carcasses  might  not  be  more  destructive  dead  than 
living  :  but  the  Scotch  steward  carried  the  day,  by 
urging,  with  foresight,  the  interest  that  would  accrue 
to  the  estate  at  some  future  period  of  time  from  their 
burial.  "To  be  sure,"  he  said,  "  the  soil  does  na 
want  the  heelp  of  nourishment  just  at  the  present 
time,  but  that  is  na  reason  that  we  should  throw  God's 
special  bounte  awa',  but  rather  with  the  text,  without 
reference  to  meeself,  place  it  at  interest  against  a  day 
of  need,  when  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil  becomes  ex 
hausted."  He  further  supported  his  position  by  quot 
ing  authorities  who  advocated  the  productive  advan 
tages  derived  from  battle  fields. 

"As  for  the  dragons'  teeth  of  the  Hindoo's  fables, 
they  were  na  doubt  allegorical  warnings,  which  arose 
from  a  neglect  of  precautions  to  prevent  the  emana 
tions  of  decomposition  from  rising  above  the  surface  ; 
but  the  estate  was  large  enough  to  select  a  place  of 
burial  safe  from  exposure."  An  opposing  sectarian  re 
minded  him  of  the  buried  talent.  '  'You  observe,  Gen 
eral  Leslie,  what  reading  will  do  without  a  discrimi 
nating  understanding  ?  In  the  parable  referred  to,  the 
talent  was  gold,  and  could  not  gain  by  burial,  but 
only  by  man's  usorious  selfishness  which  it  encourages; 
but  here  we  have  mankind's  material  legacy  for  impar 
tial  distribution  in  fruitful  returns  to  replenish  the 
waste  of  reproduction.  To  my  mind  it  would  be  a  sin 
to  controvert  this  wise  intention,  when  a  modicum  of 
lime  will  prevent  exhalation  and  add  interest  to  the 
investment." 

The  inducements  offered  by  McSawney's  method  of 
utilizing  reservation  were  so  unselfish  in  their  provis- 
ionary  extension,  aside  from  the  sarcasm  conveyed, 
that  he  was  allowed  the  privilege  of  selecting  the 
place  of  interment  and  superintending  the  obsequies. 
He  chose  a  deep  dingle,  remote  from  the  cultivated 
portions  of  the  plateau,  in  which  were  a  collection  of 
old  indigo  tanks  that  had  been  long  out  of  use  ;  yet, 
on  commencing  to  excavate  after  the  planks  were  re- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  25 

moved,  the  stench  was  so  strong  from  the  disturbed 
earth,  which  had  been  saturated  with  the  foul  drain  of 
the  putrefactive  decomposition  of  the  indigo  plant, 
that  relays  of  workmen  were  required  to  accomplish 
the  undertaking.  The  planks  had  been  laid  with  the 
seeming  intention  of  giving  the  widest  scope  to  the 
caulker's  craft,  and  the  constant  leakage  of  the  decoc 
tion  had,  from  the  earth's  evaporation,  left  a  chrystal- 
line  deposit  upon  the  hard  clay  pan  beneath,  of  up 
wards  of  two  tons  weight  of  pure  indigo,  and  by  the 
removal  of  all  the  tanks  the  trove  amounted  to  fifteen 
tons.  The  superstitiously  elated  explorers  attributed 
the  discovery  to  the  direction  of  a  special  providence 
in  favor  of  McSawney,  and  inhumation,  and  he  was 
afterwards  obeyed  with  reverential  alacrity.  One  of 
the  priests  of  the  still  had  been  the  first  killed  upon 
the  walls,  by  exposing  himself  in  drunken  bravado  to 
the  missile-stones  of  the  assailants,  to  shame,  as  he 
said,  the  cautious  cowardice  of  the  Scotsman,  who  had 
often  expostulated  with  him  upon  the  bad  example  of 
his  habits  of  intemperance.  The  steward  interred  his 
remains  with  those  of  the  troglodytes.  He  said  that 
living  they  had  been  wicked  to  themselves  and  bad  for 
the  estate,  but  with  their  resurrection  they  would  with 
renewed  goodness  compensate  for  the  evil  they  had 
done.  Having  been  bred  a  grave -stone  artist,  he 
sculptured  on  a  slab  of  marble  the  figure  of  a  drunken 
man  and  his  troglodyte  counterpart,  and  underneath, 
the  epitaph, 

Engraved  above  you'll  see  the  troglodyte, 
And  in  groveling  kind,  the  drunken  wight. 
Now  dig  below,  and  see  if  you  can  tind, 
In  sottish  mould,  opposing  traits  of  mind. 

This  memorial  monument,  attesting  to  their  virtues, 
he  erected  upon  the  mound  as  a  hint  for  the  improve 
ment  of  future  generations. 

With  this  introduction  to  the  hybrid  Badda  Orang, 
I  will  now  describe  the  visit  of  rny  grandfather  and 
boyra  to  the  martruvo  of  the  returned  Kubu  Orangs. 
Starting  at  an  early  hour  that  they  might  reach  the 
ghaut  while  the  males  were  abroad  in  search  of  food, 
they  crossed  the  valley  and  gained  the  narrow  plateau 


26  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

within  its  skirting  range  of  foothills,  which  would  al 
low  them  to  approach  the  boskies  (tree  booths)  with 
out  fear  of  being  discovered  by  the  occupants. 

"  Our  plans  proved  successful."  (I  copy  the  record 
of  my  grandfather.)  "We  found  the  mother  surrounded 
with  tadpole  children  which  appeared  to  represent, 
with  orang  admixture,  all  the  races  of  the  island  in 
habitants,  both  foreign  and  native.  The  children  were 
in  gleeful  humor,  swinging  and  springing  from  the 
tree  branches  to  the  ground,  in  pursuit  of  each  other, 
with  true  germ-man  agility,  seemingly,  in  the  even 
tenor  of  their  enjoyment,  free  from  the  quarrelsome 
spirit  of  their  civilized  cousins.  As  there  was  such  an 
attractive  spirit  of  fun  in  their  frolicsome  pranks,  our 
own  mirthful  sympathy  was  fully  enlisted,  so  that  we, 
for  a  moment,  forgot  the  object  of  our  visit.  The 
boyra  seemed  to  be  enchanted  with  the  sports  of  the 
orang  fauns,  bestowing  upon  them  a  gaze  of  worship 
ful  admiration,  which  reminded  me  that  she  came  from 
a  race  of  monkey  devotees,  who,  like  the  Hindu  Po- 
leahs,  believed  that  they  represented  mankind  in  their 
happy  state  before  the  period  of  degeneration.  When 
I  called  her  attention  to  the  elder  female's  scared  face, 
she  recognized  it  with  a  look  of  affection  and  out 
spread  arms,  but  checked  her  impulsive  intention  to 
spring  forward  and  clasp  her  in  embrace,  as  her  long- 
lost  foster-child,  with  the  evident  impression  that  the 
gratification  of  her  affection  would  prove  sacrilegious, 
as  she  was  under  sacred  protection.  The  restraint 
that  she  placed  upon  her  affectionate  emotions  gave  me 
an  opportunity  to  judge  whether  the  mother's  adop 
tion  by  the  orang  had  in  reality  been  as  deplorable  as 
the  refined  instincts  of  our  civilized  humanity  had  im 
agined.  A.fter  her  boothy  arrangements  had  been 
completed,  she  joined  the  younger  brood  in  their  play 
ful  jousts,  and  exhibited  a  gymnastic  sprightliness, 
and  accuracy  of  judgment,  in  the  measures  ot  her 
powers  of  propulsion  and  distance  that  excited  our 
wondering  admiration,  and  with  our  closest  scrutiny 
we  could  not  detect  the  shadow  of  a  reflected  sorrow. 
Her  countenance,  when  composed,  was  still  attractive, 
but  when  excited  with  the  amusing  freaks  of  the  play- 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  27 

ful  chase,  the  grimaced  corrugations  that  expressed  a 
risible  inclination,  gave  to  her  face  a  painful  appear 
ance  of  constraint.  These  emotional  effects  of  muscu 
lar  correspondents  were  undoubtedly  the  characteris 
tic  results  of  apish  association.  The  sudden  cessation 
of  the  frolicsome  amusement  warned  us  that  the  male 
Kubus  were  near  at  hand  and  in  a  few  minutes  one 
of  the  patriarchs  of  the  chang,  with  a  few  followers, 
swung  themselves  into  the  glade.  The  elder  held  him 
self  suspended  from  a  limb  for  a  few  moments  with  his 
right  hand,  while  he  surveyed  the  urchin  fauns  with  a 
suspicious  frown.  But  never  was  demure  innocence 
better  displayed  by  the  schooled  specimens  of  enlight 
ened  humanity  than  these  youthful  scions  of  hybrid 
birth  exhibited,  as  they  hung  suspended  from  the 
limbs  of  trees,  like  so  many  young  Adams  of  Eden 
ready  for  a  fall  from  the  reproving  voice  of  their  lord. 
Seemingly  satisfied  with  his  scrutiny  that  nothing  was 
amiss,  he  uttered  a  zetzoon  (low  call);  in  answer,  the 
Darwing  matron  swung  herself  down  from  the  bosky 
with  an  infant  in  a  net,  suspended  from  her  shoulder 
obliquely  across  her  breast.  When  the  elder  had 
seated  himself  on  the  ground,  in  a  half-oriental  posi 
tion,  she  presented  the  child  to  him  for  inspection. 
After  an  exchange  of  grimaces  of  an  explanatory  na 
ture,  he  examined  the  child,  which  was  evidently  sick. 
His  style  of  procedure  was  so  grotesquely  ludicrous 
in  its  burlesque  imitation  of  our  physicians'  method, 
we  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  our  handkerchiefs 
to  suppress  our  laughter.  Having  prognosed  and 
diagnosed  the  condition  of  the  infant,  he  gave  an  ap 
proving  nod,  and  commenced  unloading  his  provision- 
ary  mouth  pouches  of  their  stores  of  food,  in  a  plan 
tain  leaf,  for  their  regalement,  and  then  left  with  his 
followers  in  the  direction  from  whence  they  came. 
The  children,  after  their  departure,  recommenced  their 
sportive  entertainment,  and  the  mother  was  joined  by 
another  female  older  than  herself.  In  order  to  attract 
their  attention,  without  alarming  them  with  the  sud 
den  exposure  of  our  persons,  the  boyra  commenced 
singing  a  simple  air  to  the  accompaniment  of  her 
gourd-gee  (Malay  calabash  guitar),  with  which  she 


28  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

had  been  in  the  habit  of  soothing  Emily  the  eldest. 
They  listened,  then  advanced  timidly,*  but  halted 
when  they  saw  the  boyra  approach  them,  and  rubbed 
their  eyes  as  if  to  revive  their  recollection,  and  catch 
from  memory  the  source  of  attraction.  When  she 
pronounced  the  name  of  Emily,  with  the  endearing 
expressions  once  so  familiar,  with  a  cry  of  relief,  and 
a  struggle  for  articulation,  she  called  the  name  of  the 
boyra,  and,  with  the  apparent  remembrance  of  her 
former  resting-place,  sprang  forward,  and  was  received 
in  her  arms.  -For  some  minutes  neither  moved  from 
their  position,  but  the  boyra's  tears  were  showered 
plentifully  on  the  head  of  her  foster  child.  When  at 
length  they  stood  apart,  with  their  hands  joined,  Em 
ily,  after  a  few  moments'  struggle,  as  if  endeavoring 
to  recall  the  power  of  giving  vocalized  utterances  to 
her  thoughts,  pronounced  l Lulia  e/e/'(Lulia  dear), 
with  the  shadow  of  a  smile,  which  seemed  to  flit  be 
neath  a  grimace,  with  a  joyful  tremor  of  surprised  rec 
ollection.  The  boyra,  with  the  impulsively  fond  affec 
tion  of  her  Hindu  birthright,  tinged  with  reverence 
for  the  favor  her  loved  foster-child  had  found  with  the 
race  of  the  blest,  prostrated  herself  before  her,  and  ex 
claimed  with  fervor,  '  Now  that  I  have  known  this 
great  joy  let  me  die!'  But  when  Emily  was  in  the 
act  of  stooping  to  raise  the  nurse  there  came  a  harsh 
volley  of  gibberish  from  the  grove,  which  \ve  recog 
nized  as  the  signal  of  a  raid  used  by  our  old  foes  the 
Badda  Orangs;  and  the  Kubu  children,  who  had 
looked  with  curious  wonder  on  the  scene  enacted  be 
tween  the  elder  matron  and  boyra,  now  clustered 
around  them  for  protection.  Fortunately  we  had 
come  armed,  and  were  accompanied  by  the  head  for 
ester  and  the  dogs,  who  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  habits  of  the  Orangs.  But  ready  and  quick  as 
they  were  to  act,  a  number  of  formidable  Orangs  had 
already  seized  some  of  the  smallest  children,  and  were 
bearing  them  away  to  the  forest  of  the  Ghaut  with 
kangaroo  leaps,  when  I  arrested  the  first  with  a  bul 
let,  and  as  he  fell  the  others  dropped  the  children 
they  carried,  and  redoubled  their  speed  to  gain  the 
shelter  of  the  wood,  with  the  dogs  in  hot  pursuit.  As 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATKA.  29 

their  habits  of  intemperance  had  rendered  them  imbe 
cile  in  activity,  they  had  become  degraded  in  capacity 
for  enacting  both  the  role  of  men  and  Orangs,  and  had 
assumed  a  gait  and  carriage  that  alternated  between 
the  bipedal,  marsupial,  quadrumanal,  and  quadru 
pedal;  but  of  necessity  were  laggards  in  each;  so  that 
pursued  they  were  subject  to  the  mercy  of  the  pursuer. 
The  dogs  soon  overtook  them,  and  held  them  at  bay, 
while  the  hunter  and  his  aids  adjudged  the  sentence  of 
their  guilt  with  the  pleadings  of  a  Pedang  lawyer — a 
specie  of  tough  bamboo,  with  the  longitudinal  fibres 
webbed  in,  and  covered  with  a  vegetable  enamel  bark, 
which  adds  to  its  strength  and  durability.  It  grows 
to  perfection  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pedang,  and  is 
used  in  the  sam-pac,  or  foot  bastinado  of  criminals. 
Our  prompt  rescue  of  the  children,  and  punishment  of 
the  would-be  abductors,  caused  them  to  acknowledge 
with  timid  trustfulness  the  necessity  and  their  desire 
for  our  protection.  We  left  them  in  charge  of  the 
sub-forester  and  dogs,  with  the  determination  to  com 
mence  on  the  morrow  the  recultivation  of  the  banana 
and  plantain  patch  for  their  support.  The  following 
day,  with  a  large  Badda  volunteer  force,  and  all  that 
could  be  spared  from  our  household,  we  engaged  in  re 
storing  and  replanting  the  banana  and  melon  patches; 
in  addition,  having  obtained  from  the  American  prov 
inces  a  supply  of  Indian  corn,  of  the  sweet  ear  species, 
an  extensive  field  was  seeded  with  it  for  the  mutual  bene 
fit  of  all  the  residents.  The  busy  scene  was  watched  with 
an  appreciative  interest  by  the  old  Orangs,  and  by  the 
young  ones  as  a  source  of  exciting  amusement,  in 
which  they  seemed  inclined  to  join. 

"With  the  ripening  of  the  crops  the  long-tailed 
Gibbons  Orangs  returned  to  receive  their  tribute  as 
the  original  possessors  of  the  island.  But  before  they 
were  sufficiently  ripe  to  be  really  serviceable  for  food 
the  gardeners  found  that  in  a  night  descent  nearly  an 
acre  of  vines  had  been  destroyed,  and  the  tasted  un 
ripe  fruit  scattered  in  every  direction;  and  the  cock 
neys  report  that  'they  had  made  a  hawful  mess  of 
it,'  was  fully  verified.  The  doctor  undertook  their 
correction  by  charging  the  fruit  nearest  their  martru- 


30  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

vo  with  algaroth  (tartar  emetic  of  the  period),  of  which 
the  juice  of  the  melon  is  an    excellent   solvent.     The 
wasteful  tasting  had  scarcely  commenced    on  the  sec 
ond  night,  when  it  was   arrested  by  the  remedy  with 
violent   and  painful  retchings,  symptoms  quite  new  to 
their  germ-man  experience,  which  caused  them  to  be 
take   themselves   in  woful  plight  to  the  limbs  of  the 
trees  skirting  the  patch,  where  all,  who  were  able  to 
retain  their  hold,  were  found  in  the  morning,  for  their 
stomachs,  unused  to  the  epicure's  regurgitating  source 
of  relief,  the  nauseating  effect  was  continued  longer, 
and  with  an  evident   increase  in  severity,  while  their 
grimaces  exceeded  in  grotesque  expression  the  novice 
sea-voyager's  sympathetic  apprenticeship  to  the  rolling 
sway  of  the  ocean's  undulations.     As  an  evidence  of 
the  scene's  ludicrous   nature,   my   wife  with  pity  for 
their  sufferings,  chided  the  doctor  for  causing  it,  while 
her  e}Tes  were  flooded  with  tears  and  her   utterance 
choked  with  the  rising  throes  of  suppressed  laughter. 
Toward  night  they  began  to  recover  so  that  they  were 
able  to  reach  their  martruvo.    Two  days  passed  before 
they  reappeared,  and  we  began  to  surmise  that  the 
remedy  for  their  wastefulness  had  cured  their  taste  for 
water-melons  altogether ;    but  on  the  third  day  they 
returned  and  swung  themselves  from  tree  to  tree  of 
the  forest  border,  casting  their  eyes  with  hungry  long 
ings  towards  the  tempting  fruit  which  had  been  selec 
ted  and  transplanted  with  the  vines  near  their  tree 
promenade.     After   their   forbearance    had  been  well 
tested,  the  doctor,  with  great  ceremony,  proceeded  to 
examine    the    melons    with  a  looking-glass,  reflecting 
each,    and    occasionally    throwing    a   dazzling   gleam 
across  their  expectant  eyes,  causing  them  to  blink  with 
its  brightness. 

"With  faculties  rendered  keen  by  their  depleting  fast, 
they  quickly  understood  the  intention  of  his  finger  and 
pencil,  as  he  numbered  each,  when  a  corresponding 
melon  was  added  to  the  heap,  for  they  all  came  swing 
ing  forward  to  the  front  to  attract  his  attention. 
When  the  ritualistic  ceremony  had  been  made  suffi 
ciently  impressive;  and  their  longing  impatience  had 
become  as  manifest  as  that  cf  schoolbovs  under  the  in- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  31 

friction  of  a  long  blessing  pronounced  upon  food  pre 
pared  for  dinner;  the  servants  cut  the  melons  in  slices 
and  distributed  them .  The  improvement  in  style  they 
seemed  to  appreciate,  also  a  hint  for  the  correction  of 
their  uncleanly  negligence  in  dropping  the  rinds  be 
neath  them  was  given,  and  followed  with  willing  sub 
mission  to  exampJed  direction.  The  females,  with  in 
herent  modesty;  natural  to  the  sex,  in  a  primitive  state 
of  simplicity;  would  have  fared  poorly  if  Mrs.  Leslie 
and  her  attendants  had  not  supplied  their  wants;  for 
the  males  of  the  distal  and  proximal  extremes  of  hu 
manity  are  alike  predisposed  to  the  gratification  of 
self-indulgence  when  not  overawed  with  the  presence 
of  caste  superiors;  weakness,  want,  and  suffering  serv 
ing,  in  the  lack  of  sympathy,  as  a  zest  to  appetite, 
pride,  and  arrogance.  The  preparatory  course  of  al- 
garoth  had  assured  the  fulfillment  of  the  banqueting 
toast,  'that  good  digestion  would  wait  on  appetite.' 
When  a  melon  allowance  to  each  had  been  dispatched 
to  the  stomach  bourne,  they  looked  wistfully  to  the 
doctor,  as  the  judge  and  source  of  supplies,  for  more  ! 
After  a  careful  inspection,  with  the  mirror's  aid,  of 
their  stomach's  distention,  to  which  they  quietly  sub 
mitted  with  an  anxious  expression  of  hopeful  expecta 
tion;  the  doctor  nodded,  and  an  additional  half  melon 
was  allowed  to  each.  Then,  with  a  dessert  ration  of 
sweet  Indian  corn,  the  germ-men's  first  lesson  in  the 
natural  art  of  temperate  eating  was  concluded.  After 
a  few  minutes'  lingering  hesitation,  they,  with  reluct 
ant  satisfaction,  felt  that  they  had  received  all  that 
was  to  be  given  them  for  the  day,  and  regretfully 
swung  themselves  away;  the  jar  of  their  hands'  limb- 
catch  causing  a  dirge-like  sound  from  the  bowels  in 
requiem  for  departed  joys.  With  this  politic  pre 
lude,  in  the  ritualistic  style;  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the 
doctor's  wisdom  was  established  with  the  Gibbons; 
who  were  the  reverenced  exemplars  of  the  Kubu  and 
Badda  Orangs.  and  all  changes  made  thereafter,  with 
his  approving  nod,  were  held  sacred  by  them  as  re 
vealed  dispensations  of  their  lord  and  master,  to  his 
chosen  tribe. 


32  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"The  First  Foundling  of  Orang  and  Darwing  Extrac 
tion  entrusted  to  my  parents'  care  was  a  girl,  which 
was  left  at  our  door  in  a  fern  basket  rudely  constructed 
in  imitation  of  a  cradle  designed  for  suspension.  Its 
bed  and  covering  was  composed  of  golden  moss, 
matted  and  rendered  compact  by  fibres  with  which  it 
was  interwoven  and  quilted.  This  bequest  was  made 
in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  our  residence  at  the  Holm. 
It  did  not  require  a  second  glance  to  discover  its  ties 
of  relationship,  for  its  laijk  tendinous  extremities  de 
clared  the  source  of  their  birthright.  But  a  trinket 
attached  to  its  cradle  was  identified  by  the  boyra  as 
the  one  Emily  had  worn  on  the  day  of  the  massacre; 
which  implied  that  she  was  its  mother  or  grand 
mother.  Like  the  Malabar-Hindu  Aya,  the  boyra 
displayed  the  strength  of  her  fond  attachment  as  a 
foster  mother  by  adopting  with  like  fervor  the  off 
spring  of  her  godchild,  deformity  in  person,  or  imbe 
cility,  serving  to  strengthen  the  ties  of  affection  ;  but 
in  this  instance  its  allied  birth  enlisted  her  reverential 
devotion  in  worshipful  beatitude  for  the  privilege  con- 
fered;  esteeming  it  a  hopeful  indication  of  her  own  re 
demption  from  her  lost  condition.  The  feelings  of 
the  family  were  keenly  aroused  in  pity  for  its  forlorn 
inheritance;  but  in  fulfillment  of  the  mother's  confid 
ing  trust,  gladly  accepted  the  responsibility  of  the 
charge,  with  the  firm  resolve  to  bestow  upon  it  every 
thoughtful  precaution  to  redeem  it,  if  possible,  from 
the  hereditary  taint  of  its  paternity.  Through  the 
boyra's  influence  the  child  received  from  the  servants 
more  attention  than  our  own  children,  the  doctor  and 
tutor  making  its  progressive  development  their  special 
study.  An  army  chaplain,  visiting  the  estate,  for  his 
health;  after  due  consideration  of  all  the  circum 
stances;  thought  the  child  entitled  to  at  least  the  half 
of  an  unconverted  soul;  and  offered  to  take  the  re 
sponsibility  of  christening  and  baptizing  it  according 
to  the  established  rites  of  the  church  of  England; 
upon  the  supposition  that  the  marriage  had  been  sol 
emnized  by  the  Orang  Kaya  form;  which  he  had 
learned  embraced  in  title  the  highest  nobility  and  re 
ligious  caste  of  the  Malays.  But  the  boyra  claimed 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  33 

that  the  sacred  origin  of  the  child  would  be  profaned 
by  the  administration  of  rites  adopted  by  a.  degener 
ate  race;  whose  first  parents  had  fallen  from  grace, 
and  as  a  punishment  had  been  obliged  to  work  out 
their  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  as  drudges 
of  the  earth.  As  the  chaplain  was  a  scion  of  nobility, 
and  of  strict  high  church  principles,  who  had  volun 
teered  his  service  to  the  East  India  Company's  armies, 
to  gain  experience  in  the  art  of  saving  souls;  his 
method  had  become  somewhat  arbitrary;  and  the 
boyra's  objection  to  his  proffered  condescension  to  save 
and  seal  the  child's  fraction  of  a  soul,  aroused  his  in 
dignation;  causing  him  to  denounce  the  Indian  races 
as  beasts,  and  totally  incapable  of  appreciating  the 
sacrifices  made  in  their  behalf  by  the  Christian  mis 
sionary.  It  required  the  utmost  stretch  of  Mrs.  Les 
lie's  powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  him  to  forgive  the 
boyra's  reverential  intolerance;  and  allow  her  the  priv 
ilege  of  bestowing  upon  the  child,  without  ceremony, 
the  name  of  Emily.  He  consoled  himself  for  the  lack 
of  deferential  consideration  paid  to  the  vestment  dig 
nity  of  the  cloth  by  observing,  that  '  the  thing  would 
have  been  hardly  regular,  at  any  rate,  without  a  reg 
istered  certificate  of  its  parents'  marriage;  and  might 
have  bothered  him  with  a  reprimand,  and  a  demand  for 
a  written  defense  of  the  innovation  he  had  presumed 
to  sanction.  But  as  you  had  offered  to  become  spon- 
sers  I  was  willing  to  enter  her  for  the  baptismal  cup, 
and  give  her  a  fair  start  for  the  run  of  life,  that  her 
prospects  might  not  be  balked.' 

"As  the  child  Emily  increased  in  years  and  size,  a  hu 
man  modification  of  her  supposed  paternal  peculiarities 
became  manifest, which,  although  pleasing  to  us,  was  de 
precated  by  the  boyra  as  a  departure  from  the  happy  es 
tate  entailed  from  her  forefathers.  Still  the  length 
and  sinuosity  of  her  limbs — diffuse  growth  of  hair- 
inclination  of  the  nose  to  blend  with  the  chin's  pro- 
tuberence — and  graceful  curve  of  the  spinal  continua 
tion,  were  more  suggestive  in  contemplation  than  beau 
tiful  to  our  abridged  conceptions  of  natural  grace, 
which  in  curtail,  from  sin,  had  reduced  our  race  to  eke 


34  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

out  with  artificial  subterfuge,  an  imaginary  memorial 
means  of  future  salvation  from  the  adjudged  penalty 
of  labor.  In  her  habits  she  was  sportive  and  frolic 
some,  with  a  genial  inclination  to  familiarity;  which, 
in  the  supply  of  her  wants,  indicated  an  indifference 
to  our  artificial  rights,  and  special  claims  to  personal 
property;  that  fully  sustained  the  boyra's  reverential 
respect  for  her  paternal  antecedents  who  had  lived  in 
joyous  freedom  from  labor  and  its  penitential  sweat  of 
the  brow.  Her  tenacity  of  hold  upon  transferable  ob 
jects,  and  upon  permanent  ones,  beyond  our  reach,  to 
escape  reprisal,  fully  sustained  the  boyra's  ideas  in 
support  of  her  claims  to  an  exalted  lineage  above  the 
aspirations  of  our  race.  For  the  quick  despatch  of 
her  marriage  romance,  we  will  state  that  her  amusing 
qualifications  attracted  our  knight  of  the  pestle,  whose 
habitual  thirst  caused  us  to  prefer  another  to  his  place, 
and  on  the  consummation  of  their  union  he  was  estab 
lished  upon  a  grazing  range  opening  upon  the  pass 
leading  to  our  eastern  entrepot.  They  in  an  especial 
manner  fulfilled  the  injunction  given  to  her  paternal 
ancestors  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  if  their  multi 
plied  re-productions  caused  like  destructive  havoc 
among  its  fruit-trees,  as  hers  did  with  those  of  the 
Holm,  there  is  but  little  cause  for  wonder  that  their  lord 
and  master  expelled  them  from  their  boundaries,  and 
caused  them  to  gain  with  the  labored  sweat  of  their 
brows  a  livelihood. 

"Nine  years  after  the  singular  advent  of  our  first  hy 
brid  waif,  the  servants  of  the  Holm  in  carrying  the 
daily  rations  of  melons,  corn  and  bananas  to  the  Gib 
bons'  rendezvous,  heard  the  wailing  of  a  female  voice 
that  did  not  sound  like  the  orang  zetzoon;  following 
its  direction  they  saw  a  female  spring  from  the  ground 
to  the  branches  of  a  teconia  tree ,  and  disappear  among 
its  foliage .  Beneath  the  tree  they  found  the  body  of 
a  venerable  presbyter,  or  preaching  Gibbons  orang, 
who  had  probably  died  from  over-distention  of  the 
stomach  with  fruit,  for  he  lay  within  a  rampart  of  corn 
husks  and  rinds  of  melons  and  bananas. 

"In  contrast  with  his  enormously  distended  stomach, 
the  limbs  of  his  body  were  extremely  attenuated, 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  35 

plainly  indicating1  his  recent  arrival  and  ignorance  of 
our  established  customs;  for  those  who  had  come  in 
with  the  melon  season  were  in  excellent  condition, 
their  paunches  scarcely  exceeding,  under  our  dietetic 
limitations,  the  aldermanic  curve  of  beauty. 

"The  servants  were  perplexed  with  the  discovery, 
and  questioned  among  themselves  whether  the  body 
was  entitled  to  the  rites  of  Christian  burial  ?  To  re 
solve  their  doubts  they  sent  for  me.  The  occasion 
was  opportune  for  an  inductive  illustration  of  the  ab 
surdities  of  sectarian  prejudice,  and  the  fact  that  big 
otry,  fanaticism  and  intolerance  were  the  essential 
components  of  partisan  religion,  and  that  the  real  ele 
ments  of  joy  resided  in  the  power  of  self-communion 
and  control  in  thoughtful  meditation  for  the  associate 
happiness  of  others,  as  a  like  inducement  for  recipro 
cation.  We  had  often  felt  from  our  isolated  position 
and  the  savage  element  with  which  we  were  surrounded, 
the  great  necessity  of  household  union,  as  an  example 
for  perfecting  the  confidence  reposed  in  our  protective 
influence  by  their  dull  perceptions. 

"The  servants  of  the  Holm  had  been  purposely  se 
lected  from  all  available  nationalities;  that,  in  the 
diversity  of  habits,  customs,  and  religious  rites,  each 
might  be  impressed  with  opposing  absurdities  and 
their  ridiculous  tendencies,  as  an  incitement  to  mirth, 
for  the  prevention  of  factious  discord.  In  our  home 
establishment  we  numbered  two  hundred  and  thirty 
adult  individuals,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  du 
plicates,  each  represented  an  opposing  sect.  My  ex 
perimental  intention  had  been  disagreeably  disap 
pointed;  for  I  had  hoped  to  find  diversion  and  a  source 
of  deductive  instruction  in  reconciling  their  prejudices 
for  happy  association.  But  the  excitement  caused  by 
their  polemical  dissensions  and  quarrels,  had  frequent 
ly  required  my  interference  to  prevent  them  from  set 
tling  their  arguments  at  close  quarters.  When  I  re 
ceived  the  summons  I  requested  the  attendance  of  all 
the  members  of  the  household  and  plantation  within 
call,  both  male  and  female,  at  the  orang  refectory. 

"On  our  arrival  at  the  place  where  the  deceased  lay, 
I  assisted  in  his  removal  to  the  margin  of  the  forest 


36  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

•where  both  branches  of  his  relatives  were  engaged  in 
disposing  of  their  morning  repast.  That  finished,  they 
became  spectators;  and  were  to  all  appearance  deeply 
interested  in  my  proceedings.  From  the  diversified 
grades  of  humanity  assembled  I  selected  twelve  repre 
sentatives  to  act  as  a  coroner's  jury  to  investigate  the 
cause  of  death,  then  delivered  to  them  the  formulistic 
charge  of  the  civilized  functionary.  In  closing,  I  im 
pressed  upon  them  the  importance  of  using  their  best 
judgment  in  arriving  at  the  cause  of  death,  that  there 
might  be  no  suspicion  of  foul  *  play '  harbored  by  his 
relatives.  At  first,  the  Europeans  were  disposed  to 
look  upon  the  proceedings  in  the  light  of  a  farce,  but 
my  serious  charge  dispelled  the  idea. 

"Under  the  foreman's  direction  they  measured  his 
feet  and  hands,  in  accordance  with  the  regulations  of  co- 
rono-medical  jurisprudence  practiced  by  civilized  hu 
manity  for  comparison  with  the  imprint  in  the  soil.  After 
identifying  their  impression,  a  like  process  rendered  his 
teeth  accountable  for  the  contents  of  the  rinds.  Then 
the  jury  proceeded  to  adjust  the  quantity  of  fruit  that 
could  be  eaten  without  causing  derangement  and  dis 
tress  to  the  digestive  organs.  Finally,  they  questioned 
his  previous  condition,  in  adaptation  for  the  disposal 
of  fruit.  Then  the  chief  cook,  who  acted  as  foreman, 
rendered  the  verdict  :  '  That  he  came  to  his  death 
from  eating  too  much  of  a  mixture  without  cooking 
upon  an  empty  stomach  ! '  In  preparing  for  his  burial, 
I  expressed  a  wish  that  all  possible  respect  should  be 
paid  to  the  remains  of  the  departed,  as  I  considered 
myself  his  feofee  or  tenant — in  jointure  with  his  sur 
viving  relatives — not  only  as  a  matter  of  policy,  but 
that  the  widowed  relict — a  sobbing  zetzoou  from  the 
thick  foliage  of  the  overshadowing  teconia  tree  had 
given  me  a  hint  of  who  she  might  be — should  not  think 
that  her  mesalliance  had  rendered  her  an  outcast  and 
an  exile  from  compassion  and  pity,  as  there  were 
thousands  upon  thousands  in  our  civilized  cities  who 
were  condemned  by  society  to  multifarious  associa 
tions  infinitely  more  brutal  and  debasing.  The  butler, 
impressed  with  my  serious  bearing,  ventured  to  sug 
gest  that  he  thought  there  could  be  no  possible  objec- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  37 

tion  to  reading  the  funeral  service  over  him,  as  he 
might  have  been  converted  to  the  Methodist  way  by 
camping  out  with  his  wife;  *  unless  James  the  groom, 
who  is  a  dissenter,  and  little  better,  chooses  to  read 
their  service  for  the  dead,  if  they  have  one  ! '  This 
double  sectarian  inuendo  of  spite — for  they  were  rival 
lovers — was  turned  aside  by  the  Irish  kitchen  gardener, 
who  said  that  the  deceased,  who  was  dead  and  wished 
to  be  buried,  was  a  very  fine  native  gentleman 
of  his  kind,  but  as  there  was  no  priest  on  the  estate, 
a  Christian  burial  was  not  to  be  had  for  the  ask 
ing.  The  French  cook  admitted,  that  in  France 
the  negro  was  recognized  as  a  religious  citizen,  enti 
tled  to  the  rites  of  communion  and  distant  Christian 
fellowship  ;  and  could  be  educated  to  be  useful,  and 
thought  the  Sumatrians  should  have  the  same  chance. 
But  as  the  dead  one  was  a  fruit  and  seedeater,of  the  same 
caste  with  the  Hindoos,  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
dispose  of  him  in  their  own  way.  Others,  including 
the  female  representatives,  stood  apart  enwrapped  in 
a  curious  mood  of  amazement,  too  much  puzzled  with 
my  serious  bearing  to  command  their  own  thoughts. 
Having  fixed  their  attention,  I  admonished  them  that 
our  own  bodies  were  in  no  respect  better,  living  or 
dead,  than  the  mass  of  flesh  and  bone  we  were  about 
to  bury.  But  that  we  were  endowed  with  affections 
which,  if  cultivated  independently  of  the  body,  while 
living,  for  associate  reciprocation ,  they  would  increase 
for  a  complete  realization  that  they  were  a  creative  en 
dowment  bestowed  for  cultivation,  in  preparation  for 
the  harvest  garner  of  immortality. 

'You  have/  I  continued,  'expressed  yourselves  af 
fectionately  grateful  to  us  for  the  interest  we  have 
taken  in  your  welfare.  From  henceforth  allow  us  the 
grateful  privilege  of  reciprocating  your  love  with  the 
knowledge  that  in  united  affection  you  represent  one 
body,  in  freedom  from  selfishness,  the  sectarian  source 
of  unhappiness.'  As  if  in  sanction  of  my  petition, 
there  came,  from  far  up  among  the  deeply  foliaged 
branches  of  the  teconia,  a  souffled  moan,  that  brought 
forth  from  the  eyes  of  the  female  servants  glistening 
tears;  with  the  sudden  blanch  of  pitying  sympathy 


38  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

that  bespeaks  the  surprise  of  emotions  above  the  reach 
of  animal  gratification.  Startled  with  the  tearful  sanc 
tion  from  the  kindlier  emotions  I  had  invoked,  it  re 
quired  a  strong  effort  for  me  to  proceed  with  my  ad 
monitory  discourse. 

"But  observing  in  the  expression  of  their  faces — for 
the  eyes  of  the  men  were  not  altogether  free  from  sym 
pathetic  moisture — a  desire  that  I  should  continue,  I 
urged  that  they  should  judge  each  other  from  the  ex- 
ampled  evidences  of  unselfish  affection,  and  forever 
banish  from  their  thoughts  the  words  pagan,  Christian 
and  infidel,  as  they  had  given  birth  to  bigotry,  fanati 
cism,  and  intolerance;  and  they,  in  sequence  to  de 
traction,  hate,  and  revenge. 

"  For  your  own  happiness  and  ours,  I  hope  that  you 
will  never,  from  this  day,  make  use  of  bitter  and  taunt 
ing  words  of  self-exaltation,  as  they  are  a  sounding 
provocation  for  evil  meditation.  Be  open,  honest,  and 
free  in  your  associations;  as  clans,  clubs,  and  societies 
beget  an  exclusive  spirit  of  selfishness,  which  alike  de 
tracts  from  your  own  and  others'  happiness.  Above 
all,  recollect  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  tobacco, 
bang,  and  opium  stimulate  the  cravings  of  habit  for 
their  excessive  use,  beyond  the  reach  of  control;  and 
as  they  are  debasing  and  deadly  poisons,  which  at  first 
are  repugnant  to  the  cravings  of  appetite,  their  indul 
gence  is  far  more  beastly  than  that  of  the  deceased, 
whose  hunger  was  an  excuse  for  his  gluttonous  impru 
dence.  Of  the  two  you  are  the  most  guilty,  in  know 
ing  the  injury  you  are  inflicting  upon  yourselves  and 
others.  Now,  as  there  is  one  who  has  watched  our 
proceedings,  and  has  probably  retained  in  memory  an 
instinctive  affection  for  this  relict,  with  whom  she  was 
forced  to  associate  from  the  sad  effects  of  ardent 
spirits;  we  will,  for  her  sake,  bestow  upon  the  body 
such  marks  of  kindly  attention  as  she  will  be  capable 
of  understanding.  For  he  is,  of  himself,  more  deserv 
ing,  in  being  born  a  brute,  than  those  of  our  race,  who, 
with  the  privilege  of  achieving  immortality,  choose  to 
reduce  themselves  to  a  worse  condition  by  drunken 
ness  and  gluttony.  That  our  kindly  intention  may  not 
interfere  through  ignorance  with  the  sepulchral  rites 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  39 

of  his  species,  \ve  will  gather  ferns  and  the  choicest 
flowers,  and  cover  the  body  as  it  lies  here  in  state;  so, 
that  with  the  traditional  comprehension  attributed  to 
their  ancestral  relatives,  the  wood  fauns — the  satyr- 
germ-men  of  Greece — the  act  will  be  taken  as  a  cere 
monial  token  to  grace  the  deceased's  re-union  with  his 
mother,  earth.' 

"Never  had  I  seen  my  'servant'  companions  unite 
with  such  manifest  evidences  of  joyful  alacrity  as  in  the 
labor  tribute  proposed  at  the  close  of  my  exordic  ad 
monition  !  While  gathering  flowers  in  the  forest 
glades — Irish  and  Hindoos,  the  most  fanatical  of  our 
employees— seemed  to  forget  their  former  acts  of  scorn 
ful  despite  and  court  each  the  other's  companionship. 
The  females,  also,  forgetting  the  shade  distinctions  of 
color,  exchanged  lip  service  without  the  slightest  show 
of  their  former  repugnance  :  the  affection  of  the 
morning's  manifestation  proving  in  after  association 
the  sincerity  of  the  impression.  As  each  contributor 
brought  in  his  or  her  collections,  the  bier  of  branches 
which  I  had  wattled  together  with  osiers  was  decked 
by  a  Choontoo  maiden  who  had  been  brought  from  the 
Thibetstana  range  of  the  Himalaya  by  my  wife,  where 
she  had  from  childhood  been  accustomed  to  note  the 
habits  of  the  Orang  Gibbons  of  that  region.  When 
the  bier  was  fully  prepared  for  the  body,  it  was  re 
moved  from  the  debris  of  husks  and  carefully  placed 
thereon.  The  Gibbons,  with  here  and  there  a 
Kubu,  having  hung  in  attentive  clusters  from  the 
branches  of  the  surrounding  trees,  the  obsequies 
only  lacked  the  sombre  accompaniments  of  a  London 
undertaker's  paraphernalia,  to  render  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  the  scene,  a  civilized  burlesque  upon 
solemnity.  Considerable  difficulty  was  encountered 
in  straightening  and  composing  the  limbs,  from  their 
cramped  contractions  induced  by  the  expiring  agonies 
of  indigestive  colic.  When  finally  reduced  to  the  or 
thodox  position  required  for  burial,  the  enormous  dis- 
tention  of  the  stomach  was  fully  exposed,  equalling 
in  prominence  aldermanic  proportions,  or  those  of  a 
church  dignitary  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  plu 
rality  of  beneficed  livings  ever  bestowed  by  favor  up- 


40  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

on  a  single  incumbent  of  England's  ecclesiastical  aris 
tocracy,  it  required  a  determined  effort  of  the  will 
to  suppress  the  rising  tendency  of  emotions  foreign 
to  those  of  sedate  meditation;  but  the  misfortunes  of 
one,  and  the  presence  of  curious  kindred  spectators 
prevailed.  When  our  floral  tribute  was  completed  we 
returned  to  the  Holm,  leaving  the  body  to  the  care  of 
the  living  members  of  its  species.  Arraigned  by  my 
\vife,  when  alone,  for  having  deprived  the  house  of 
its  servants  when  most  needed,  I  related  to  her  the 
events  of  the  morning,  and  received  as  my  reward  the 
salutation,  '  You  delightful  old  humbug  !'  preluded 
and  sanctioned  with  kisses,  and  the  addenda,  '  Who 
would  want  neighbors  with  you  about  ?  I  knew  that 
you  were  up  to  some  of  your  wise  pranks  !'  She  after 
wards  referred  to  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Emily's 
supposed  brother-in-law7  as  a  happy  household  epoch, 
which  had  served  to  transform  the  servants  from  light 
ing  and  quarreling  drudges  into  companions,  capable 
of  understanding  and  reciprocating  affectionate  trust, 
receiving  in  return  our  confidence,  without  taking  un 
kind  advantage  of  our  good  will. 

"Just  after  the  break  of  day  of  the  twelfth  morning 
succeeding  that  of  the  orang  obsequies,  my  personal 
attendant  knocked  at  my  chamber  door,  and  asked  me 
to  step  out  upon  the  verandah.  'What  now,  Aleer,'  I 
questioned;  'a  tiger?'  'No,  sahib  master,'  he  replied, 
'wild  woman  with  monkey  child;  wish  to  leave,  no  let 
me  take;  want  to  see  you.3  Opening  the  door,  I  saw 
that  Aleer's  usually  sage  face  was  lighted  with  a  hu 
morous  glow  that  indicated  something  unusual. 

"Hastily  dressing  myself,  I  went  out,  and  as  I  step 
ped  from  the  door  a  yetsoome  (cry  of  a  young  orang) 
wail  directed  me  to  a  moss  basket,  in  which  I  found 
the  child,  and  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards,  under 
the  nearest  of  our  avenue  marsang  trees,  the  mother 
was  seated  in  a  squatting  position,  awaiting  my  ap 
pearance.  At  my  approach  she  exhibited  strong 
emotions  of  pleasure,  which  she  tried  to  express  in 
words,  but  her  tongue  refused  its  office  for  the  inter 
pretation  of  her  wishes.  Seeing  by  my  perplexity 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  41 

that  her  articulate  sounds  were  not  understood,  she 
then  by  pantomimic  signs  of  endearment  pointed  to 
the  child  in  the  basket  of  moss,  and  then  approached 
caressingly,  and  when  near  placed  her  hands  upon  her 
eyes,  as  if  to  repress  her  tears;  finally  in  giving  ex 
pression  to  her  reluctance  in  leaving  it,  she  uttered 
real  sobs  of  grief.  With  words  and  impulsive  tokens 
expressive  of  my  desire,  I  urged  her  to  remain  with 
her  child. 

"  Counting  upon  her  fingers,  three,  and  measuring 
with  her  band  from  the  basket,  with  periods,  to  give 
me  an  impression  of  height  and  age,  she  pointed  in 
the  direction  of  the  eastern  ghaut;  then  retreating  she 
sprang  upward  and  caught  with  her  right  hand  the 
lowest  branch  of  the  tree,  and  mimicked  the  gathering 
of  fruit  and  the  action  of  casting  it  to  her  children  on 
the  ground.  Then  pointing  to  her  infant,  she  folded 
her  left  arm  across  her  breast,  showing  that,  with  it, 
she  could  not  provide  for  the  others  in  her  widowed 
state. 

"In  answer  to  my  pantomimic  invitation  to  bring 
them  with  her  into  the  house,  she  pointed  to  the 
room  of  my  wife  and  the  nursery;  then  to  the  fern 
leaves  which  she  had  evidently  woven  into  a  skirt  in 
preparation  for  the  visit;  again  repeating  the  stature 
measurement  of  the  children  she  retained,  shook  her 
head  sadly,  in  token  that  they  were  too  old  to  adapt 
themselves  to  house  confinement  and  dress.  Her 
modest  consideration  of  civilized  proprieties,  habits, 
and  customs,  with  self  abnegation;  as  being  adverse 
to  those  of  'her  children,  instead  of  abating  my  desire 
to  establish  her  rescioned  species  upon  a  civilized 
standpoint,  for  a  more  successful  and  happy  re-germ- 
man  impression,  it  increased  it,  so  that  I  became  quite 
earnest  in  my  word  and  pantomimic  expostulation. 
As  if  fearing  that  I  had  not  fully  comprehended  the 
reason  why  she  had  parted  with  her  infant — perhaps 
thinking  that  I  might  attribute  the  cause  to  a  lack  of 
maternal  affection — she  placed  a  bunch  of  grass,  hastily 
twisted  to  represent  a  child,  upon  her  hip,  in  imitation 
of  the  method  of  bearing  their  children  while  in 
swinging  progression  from  branch  to  branch  of  the 


42  INVESTIGATIONS   AND    EXPERIENCE   OF 

trees.  Then  with  intentional  miscalculation  dropped 
to  the  ground  short  of  her  intended  grasp  of  the  limb 
in  advance,  intimating  that  from  weakness  she  was  un 
able  to  bear  the  additional  weight.  She  then  placed 
the  representative  child  with  two  others  of  like  mold 
beneath  the  tree,  and  commenced  an  imaginary  search 
for  fruit,  the  while  holding  them  in  view  with  anx 
ious  watchfulness,  and  listening  as  if  to  catch  the 
sound  of  approaching  danger  in  time  to  conceal 
them.  Suddenly  her  gaze  became  transfixed,  as 
if  an  object  of  terror  had  been  discovered  in  am 
bush,  and  with  a  moaning,  muffled  shriek  she 
dropped  to  the  ground,  and  began  a  frantic  strug 
gle  as  if  for  the  protection  of  her  children  from  a 
dreaded  reptile  or  beast  of  prey,  During  this  short 
enactment,  her  agony  was  so  truthfully  depicted,  that 
I  involuntarily  started  to  aid  in  her  rescue,  with  the 
sudden  impression  of  remorseful  regrets,  in  reproof 
for  leaving  her,  with  her  brother  and  sister,  to  a  fate 
so  fearful  in  its  exposure  to  the  preying  dangers  of  a 
jungle  and  forest  life.  She  at  once  divined  with  a 
woman's  quick  instinct  the  impression  her  actions  had 
wrought,  and  the  source  of  my  impulsive  emotion;  for 
she  sprang  to  her  feet  with  an  impetuous  start  toward 
me,  as  if  to  accept  my  proffered  protection;  but  sud 
denly  stopped,  as  though  arrested  by  thoughts  of  her 
condition,  and  uttering  a  piteous  wail  she  crouched  at 
my  feet.  Stooping  to  raise  her,  she  drew  quickly 
back  from  my  reach,  and  with  a  longing  look  of  ten 
derness,  sprang  to  the  limb  and  swung  herself  from 
branch  to  branch  of  the  avenue  trees  with  such  a  ra 
pidity  of  motion  and  certainty  of  grasp,  with  the  im 
petus  for  the  calculation  of  varied  distance,  that  ad 
miration  for  the  elasticity  of  her  acquired  ability  slack 
ened  my  steps  as  I  pursued;  but  pity  kept  pace,  as  I 
used  impulsive  terms  of  endearment  to  recall  her. 
When  she  had  regained  the  tree  shadows  of  the  forest 
belt,  she  looked  back;  the  fount  of  tears  long  closed  to 
human  sympathy  had  opened,  blinding  with  their  flow 
her  eyes,  which  she  tried  to  clear  with  her  right  hand, 
but  prompted  to  iheir  emotional  source,  it  fell  to  her 
breast,  which  she  pressed  to  stay  the  throbbing  throes 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  43 

of  her  heart.  At  the  sight  of  a  grief  so  deplorable,  I 
approached  to  plead  with  her  again,  my  own  eyes  con 
tributing  their  meed  to  the  pleading  tones  of  my 
voice. 

"With  a  step  toward  me,  in  hand  walk  upon  the 
limbs,  she  seemed  to  meditate  in  doubt  for  a  moment, 
her  hand,  as  if  in  token  of  desire,  moving  toward  me, 
but  in  quick  reversion,  with  a  look  of  conscious  shame, 
withdrew  it;  then,  with  impulsive  boldness,  turning 
her  face  half  aside,  she  beckoned  to  my  vest  pocket, 
and  placed  the  palm  of  her  open  hand  before  her  face. 
Words  of  designation  would  have  failed  to  express 
with  equal  clearness  the  full  interpretation  of  her  wish. 
After  the  doctor's  introduction  of  the  mirror,  as  a  daz 
zling  ritual  accompaniment  for  the  restraint  of  orang 
gluttony  and  wastefulness,  we  had  all  carried  a  small 
pocket  one,  to  command  a  like  impression.  In  quick 
response  to  her  petition,  I  placed  mine  in  her  hand. 
She  raised  it  to  her  face  and  perused  the  reflection 
with  a  prolonged  gaze  of  changing  emotions,  com 
pounded  of  curiosity  and  admiration,  and,  as  she 
glanced  at  my  face,  by  way  of  comparison,  a  gleam  of 
pleased  vanity  flitted  like  the  phantom  ghost  of  civi 
lized  impression  from  the  eyes  downward,  then,  with 
a  zetzoon  sigh,  she  carefully  bestowed  it  in  the  amu 
let  bag  suspended  from  her  neck.  Its  preservation 
assured,  with  the  impetus  of  a  forward  swing,  she  cast 
upon  me  a  backward  glance  full  in  its  expression  of 
grateful  sorrow,  and,  while  passing  in  reach  for  a  for 
est  catch,  cast  loose  her  skirt  of  fern,  and  quickly  dis 
appeared  from  view.  When  all  hope  of  her  return  had 
passed,  I  retraced  my  steps  to  the  house,  questioning 
my  feelings  of  responsibility,  to  learn  the  extent  of  my 
culpability  in  leaving  the  foundling  scions  for  re-germ- 
man-a-tion  with  their  orang  antecedents.  My  wife, 
who  had  witnessed  a  portion  of  the  interview,  caused 
the  child,  during  my  absence,  to  be  taken  to  the  nur 
sery  and  dressed  in  the  swaddling  clothes  which  had 
been  used  for  our  own  children.  In  the  wrapper  of 
moss  an  amulet  was  found,  which  the  boyra  recognized 
as  the  one  worn  by  Letitia,  the  eldest  of  the  Darwing 
sisters,  who  was  undoubtedly  the  child's  grandmother- 


44  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

It  was  a  boy,  and  in  personal  appearance  bore  a  char 
acteristic  resemblance  to  the  race  of  its  paternal  ances 
tor,  and,  as  he  increased  in  years,  showed  a  decided 
predilection  for  toys  of  gold  and  silver,  and  a  strong 
disposition  to  hold  those  of  his  associates  in  pawn. 
The  skins  of  the  adopted  were  tanned  to  a  brownish 
olive,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  in  color  to  the 
gipsy,  or  the  '  tawno  petulengro  chabos,'  as  they 
term  their  bauds.  Their  garments  of  hair  were  soft 
and  silky,  and  by  no  means  unpleasant  to  the  eye.  In 
the  nursery  they  adopted  in  progression  all  known 
gaits,  and  especially  delighted  in  giving  their  associ 
ates  gymnastic  instruction  in  woodland  games,  a 
knowledge  of  which  seemed  to  have  been  derived  from 
hereditary  intuition  In  conformity  with  this  predis 
position  their  hands,  in  quadrumanal  estimation,  were 
elongated,  and  those  of  the  upper  and  lower  extremi 
ties  were  equally  well  formed  for  prehensile  hold;  and, 
with  the  grasping  tenacity  of  curiosity,  seemed  to  be 
constantly  on  the  stretch.  The  ears  were  adapted  to 
catch  sounds  from  every  direction,  and  the  eyes,  in 
deferential  relation  to  other  organs,  had  acquired  a 
quick  furtive  glance,  moving  in  concert  with  the  ears, 
like  those  of  the  antelope,  ever  on  the  alert  to  detect 
and  anticipate  danger." 


SINGAPORE,  March  27,  18'. 

WILHELM  SHAWTINBACH,  ESQ. 

My  Dear  Sir: — If  after  reading  the  abstract  of 
my  grandfather's  record  of  events,  which  transpired 
in  the  settlement  of  Saar  Soong,  your  curiosity  or  de 
sire  to  investigate,  for  your  own  attestation,  the  rela 
tions  which  have  been  re-established  with  the  progeni- 
torial  stock  of  humanity,  should  prompt  you  to  visit  my 
home,  I  herewith  extend  to  you,  and  your  follower,  a 
most  cordial  invitation  to  accompany  me .  As  I  sincerely 
hope  that  you  will  accept  my  proffer,  I  shall  make  my 
arrangements  at  once  for  your  accommodation  by  des 
patching  a  courier  to  inform  my  relatives  in  prepara 
tion  for  your  welcome.  In  our  journey  thitherward  it 


•>x 


. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  45 


will  please  me  if  you  will  defer  the  topic  of  your  at 
traction  in  conversation  until  after  our  arrival  at  the 
Holm.  You  will,  without  doubt,  understand  that  my 
negative  request  is  addressed  especially  to  our  com 
panions.  As  your  follower  has  undoubtedly  taken  um 
brage  from  the  emotions  of  surprise  that  I  evinced 
when  we  were  introduced,  please  offer  him  my  sincere 
apologies  with  the  plea  of  his  resemblance  to  absent 
friends  If  you  can  induce  him  to  accompany  you,  he 
will  add  greatly  to  your  ready  appreciation  of  cause 
and  effect  in  the  study  of  natural  history. 

Yours,  with  sincerity, 

LOFTUS  LESLIE. 


SINGAPORE,  March  28,  18'. 

As  you  will  readily  comprehend,  my  accidental  en 
counter  with  Mr.  Leslie  has  invoked  a  counter  interest 
to  all  my  plans  devised  for  the  investigation  of  relig 
ious  superstitions  of  India  and  China. 

Before  I  read  his  narrative  relation  of  the  events 
which  had  transpired  during  the  various  stages,  or 
transition  epochs,  which  were  inaugurated  for  the 
purpose  of  controlling  savage  instinct,  and  holding  it 
amenable  to  honest  reciprocation  in  association,  I  had 
relieved  myself  of  the  repugnance  which  theoretical 
humanity  attaches  to  oursimia  relationship  and  origin 
by  cultivating  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  their 
habits  and  customs.  For  this  purpose  I  had  obtained 
specimens  of  the  smaller  types  of  the  species  peculiar 
to  America,  and  an  aboriginal  ape  from  the  Island  of 
Java,  whose  native  ferocity  of  disposition  did  not  im 
prove  under  the  influence  of  the  civilized  example  of 
my  garden  visitors.  But  familiarity  with  their  forms 
and  apish  dispositions  during  my  peripatetic  medita 
tions,  served  to  remove  from  my  mind  the  prejudices 
entertained  by  our  species  in  disfavor  of  an  hereditary 
alliance  with  theirs.  With  this  inductive  method  of  ob 
servation,  and  intercourse  with  an  inferior  type,  1  was 
prepared  to  realize  in  my  travels  the  existence  of  higher 
grades,  and  to  accept  the  Malaysian  title  of  orang,  not 


46  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

only  as  the  most  legitimate  source  of  nobility,  but  the 
most  honored  in  its  derivation  from  the  most  remote 
vestiges  of  antiquity  in  worshipful  authority  and  line 
age.  Yet  I  will  acknowledge  that  the  proofs  which  I 
have  gained  from  actual  investigation  are  so  positive 
in  revelation  that  my  wonder  has  been  surprised  at  the 
tardy  recognition  and  adoption  of  the  title  as  the 
highest  and  most  aristocratic  within  the  scope  of  pos 
sible  attainment  for  bestowal  in  promotion  of  the  merit 
of  genealogical  superiority.  As  Sumatra  is  the  ancient 
Fortunatiee  Insel,  I  shall  undoubtedly  be  able  to  ob 
tain  reliable  information  of  its  remote  society  grades, 
for  the  foundation  of  titles  and  orders  to  distinguish 
political,  theological  and  scientific  aspirants  with  ad 
denda  honors;  ami  in  grateful  remembrance  of  those 
which  have  been  conferred  on  me,  I  shall  ever  hold 
my  rights  and  privileges  of  discovery  subject  to  your 
disposal.  In  earnest  of  my  intention  I  shall  dedicate 
my  journalistic  installments  for  your  perusal  and 
approval. 

With  permission,  most  respectfully  yours, 

WILHELM  SHA.WTINBACH. 


JOURNAL. 

INSTALLMENT  FIRST. 

Discovering  in  Mr.  Leslie's  special  hint,  in  reference 
to  Kan  Avan,  the  expected  verification  of  my  surmises, 
I  thankfully  accepted  his  invitation  to  become  a  guest 
dependent  upon  the  hospitality  of  his  parents  and 
community  at  Leslie  Holm.  The  frequent  allusions 
made  by  the  Singapoorans  to  the  high  connections  of 
the  Leslies  had  alarmed  the  susceptibilities  of  Kan 
Avan's  democratic  nature,  and  had  caused  me  to  place 
a  guard  over  my  tongue,  to  suppress  its  tendency  to 
give  utterance  to  social  liberalisms.  When  I  proffered 
to  Kan  Avan  Mr.  Leslie's  apology  and  invitation  to 
visit  the  Holm,  he  objected  in  strong  terms  to  the  pro 
posed  trip,  as  he  had  interpreted  the  boldness  of  his 
scrutiny  to  the  arrogance  of  birth.  But  finding  that 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  47 

he  could  not  change  my  determination,  he  requested 
the  privilege  of  bearing  me  company  in  the  light  of  a 
"mutual  friend"  to  whom  I  had  extended  a  sub-in 
vitation.  Having  acceded  to  his  wish,  he  expressed 
his  reason  for  the  request  in  the  following  terms  to 
me:  "I  don't  know  how  it  appears  to  you;  when  I'm 
in  his  presence,  it  seems  as  though  he  had  found  out  my 
secret  and  was  measuring  the  length  of  my  pedigree 
mentally,  which  makes  me  feel  equalibus  non-eqiialalibus 
e.t  mutando — that  is  to  say,  I  feel  that  I  am  his  equal  out, 
and  his  inferior  in  his  presence.  God  has  made  me 
what  I  am  ;  but  little  there  is,  to  be  sure,  that  I  could 
reveal  to  him  that's  new  about  myself  ;  but  it's  un 
pleasant  to  have  one  seek  to  pry  into  another's  per 
sonal  peculiarities  without  saying  anything.  As  to 
that,  he  appears  to  understand  you  as  well  !  If  I 
could  have  my  way,  I  would  make  all  men  talk  what 
they  think,  unless  they  wish  to  keep  it  a  secret  alto 
gether  ;  then  they  should  not  with  their  wise  looks  be 
poking  it  under  one's  nose  everlastingly,  as  much  as 
to  say,  I  knew  it  at  sight !  At  any  rate,  if  his  father's 
family  are  at  all  like  himself  we  might  as  well  be 
placed  in  an  inquisition  for  all  the  liberty  and  free 
will  we  can  enjoy  in  thinking  and  speaking,  for  not  a 
blessed  word  but  the  truth  have  I  been  able  to  speak 
in  his  presence,  a  thing  you  know,  quite  unnatural  to 
a  society  man  with  a  turn  for  political  reformation." 
A  few  words  addressed  to  his  vanity  restored  Kan 
Avan's  self-complacency,  and  reconciled  his  hallucin 
ation  in  fancied  excess  of  endorsement,  with  the  be 
lief  that  it  was  bestowed  for  the  special  design  of  ex 
tending  his  political  and  social  influence. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  Embacadero  of  Saar  Soong, 
we  found  the  train  waiting,  and  without  stopping 
longer  than  was  required  to  receive  the  affectionate 
congratulations  bestowed  upon  Mr.  Leslie  and  the 
doctor,  we  proceeded  on  our  journey  to  the  interior. 
While  traversing  the  lowlands,  over  an  exceedingly 
good  road,  Mr.  Leslie  kept  his  elephant  abreast  of 
ours,  so  that  we  could  converse  without  much  difficul 
ty,  from  howdah  to  howdah.  From  time  to  time,  a?  he 


43  INVESTIGATIONS   AND    EXPERIENCE   OF 

noted  improvements  which  had  been  made  during  his 
absence,  he  explained  the  plan  which  his  parents  had 
adopted  to  secure  co-operative  self-government,  for 
the  furtherance  of  unity  in  freedom  from  covetous  de 
sire,  with  an  assured  perpetuation  from  the  happy 
fruits  of  honest  reciprocation.  On  the  approach  of 
the  train  to  the  upland  plantations,  the  occupants 
nocked  from  their  houses  to  welcome  the  absentees 
home.  The  warmth  of  their  attachment  was  manifested 
with  such  zestful  tokens  of  joyful  gladness  that  my 
own  emotions  were  surprised  with  an  accession  of 
gratification,  and  my  companions  for  the  moment 
seemed  to  be  startled  with  a  new  sensation  foreign  to 
his  nature.  When,  in  ascending  the  ghaut  of  the  sec 
ond  range  of  bulwark  foothills,  of  a  higher  elevation, 
we  reached  an  inter-vale,  the  members  of  their  own 
individual  families  met  them,  but  held  themselves 
aloof  while  their  children  received  the  welcome  hom 
age  of  the  residents  with  an  increase  of  happiness  from 
the  outflowing  abundance  of  others  to  enrich  and 
strengthen  the  ties  of  their  own  affection.  At  length 
the  throng,  abashed  with  their  thoughtless  selfishness, 
gave  place  for  the  expression  of  parental  gladness. 
The  quadrupeds  also  claimed  the  privilege  of  being 
recognized  as  members  of  the  family  by  the  ties  of  in 
stinct.  The  elephant  who  had  borne  the  Leslie  family 
became  impatient  from  the  long  delayed  recognition 
of  her  young  master,  and,  overreaching  the  group  that 
surrounded  him,  seized  his  shoulder  with  her  trunk 
and  turned  him  about,  and  he,  recognizing  the  cause, 
saluted  her  with  the  apology,  "  Well,  Juno,  I  did  not 
mean  to  neglect  you.  How  have  you  been  ?  No  tan 
trums,  I  hope,  while  I  have  been  absent.  You  must 
give  up  hysterics  now  that  you  have  a  child,  for  they 
indicate  a  bad  and  willful  temper,  and  set  a  bad  ex 
ample;  besides,  our  race  claims  the  monopoly  for  their 
exhibition/'  When  ready  to  continue  their  homeward 
progress,  Loftus  was  about  to  remount  to  his  seat  in 
the  howdah  with  the  doctor,  but  Juno  vetoed  the  move 
ment,  obliging  him  to  occupy  a  seat  in  her  howdah 
with  his  family.  While  observing  these  varied  and 
wonderful  evidences  of  attachment,  which  were  so 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  49 

vividly  retained  in  the  memory  of  the  brute  species,  I 
could  not  help  uttering  aloud  the  exclamation,  "  Well, 
I  declare,  here  is  a  real  demonstration  of  what  I  have 
longed  to  see,  but  have  feared  that  I  should  die  with 
the  wish  ungratified.  If  I  could  only  have  witnessed 
this  trustful  confidence  in  an  abiding  affection  in  my 
youth,  the  example  would  have  added  to  my  life  a 
never-failing  zest  as  an  assurance  of  its  immortal  ex 
tension.  They  have  received  a  noble  recompense  for 
the  money  and  care  they  have  bestowed,  in  the  rever 
ential  affection  returned  by  the  representatives  of  so 
many  diverse  sects,  and  withal  in  like  harmony  with 
each  other.  How  they  have  been  able  to  accomplish 
this  reconciliation  of  incompatibles,  with  the  aristo 
cratic  pride  they  exhibit  in  intercourse,  is  beyond  my 
present  powers  of  comprehension;  for  there  is  nothing 
in  the  wide  world  that  appears  so  repugnant  to  demo 
cratic  equality  as  the  ruling  power  of  austerity.  This 
new  phase  in  life  offers  an  extensive  field  for  study, 
and  if  I  can  learn  the  secret,  it  will  prove  far  more 
potent  and  reliable,  for  the  control  of  the  masses, 
than  money!  Even  the  elephant,  under  the  direction 
of  this  power,  shows  an  instinctive  discernment  nearly 
akin  in  manifestation  to  her  sex  of  the  humankind,  for 
she  questions  his  right  to  bestow  attentions  upon 
others  to  the  neglect  of  his  own  family!  The  world, 
outside  of  Indian  island  extension,  looks  upon  the 
elephant  as  a  monstrous  piece  of  property,  that  pays 
interest  out  of  pocket;  but  if  all  were  like  this,  they 
would  prove  invaluable  to  wives  whose  husbands  were 
addicted  to  saloons,  clubs,  lodges,  and  night  resorts  in 
kind,  begetting  a  tendency  to  household  desertion/5 

At  this  stage  of  my  soliloquy,  Kan  Avan,  in  the 
height  of  excitement,  called  my  attention  to  a  couple 
who  were  hastening  from  a  bungalow  down  a  broad 
avenue  planted  on  either  side  with  the  marsang  spe 
cies  of  trees.  The  man  was  on  "foot,"  but  the  wo 
man  was  far  in  advance,  swinging  herself  from  branch 
to  limb  by  the  force  of  projection,  and  in  train  was 
followed  by  a  numerous  progeny,  chiefly  composed 


50  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

of  girls.  The  parents — for  they  appeared  to  hold  that 
relation — were  well  advanced  in  years,  but  still  buoy 
ant  and  elastic  in  all  their  motions.  A  glance  at  the 
bungalow  showed  that  it  had  been  built,  and  then  ex 
tended  by  additions,  without  regard  to  the  original 
nucleus  style  of  architecture;  probably  with  the  sole 
intention  of  affording  accommodation  for  an  increasing 
family. 

From  various  portions  of  this  curious  edifice  chil 
dren  continued  to  issue,  until  twenty-five  or  thirty 
heads  were  seen  in  motion  following  in  the  wake  of 
the  mother. 

The  elephants  were  halted  by  the  mahouts,  to  allow 
the  old  couple  to  give  their  salutations  of  welcome  to 
the  returned  travelers,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 
younger  members  with  romping  agility  covered  the 
elephants  of  their  patrons  and  acquaintances,  but  with 
coyness  avoided  the  one  that  bore  the  howdah  we  oc 
cupied. 

A  whispered  announcement  from  Mr.  Leslie  caused 
the  old  lady  to  give  a  zetzoon  cry  of  joy,  and  but  a 
second  elapsed  before  Kan  Avan's  neck  was  embraced 
with  the  arms  of  a  mother's  fond  affection,  his  sisters 
hanging  in  festoons  from  the  neighboring  boughs  and 
eaves  of  the  howdah.  The  father,  having  caught  a 
glimpse  of  his  son's  profile,  exclaimed,  "Arrah!  an' 
be  me  faith,  it's  Patronimick,  sure!" 

Kan  Avan,  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  when 
his  parents  appeared  in  full  view,  had  leaned  so  far  out 
of  the  howdah  that  he  lost  his  balance,  and  would 
have  fallen  to  the  ground  if  I  had  not  caught  him  by 
the  coat  tail,  and  it  was  at  this  moment,  when  I  was 
exerting  my  strength  to  restore  him  to  his  seat  in  the 
howdah,  that  his  relationship  was  made  known  to  his 
mother. 

His  position  as  he  hung  in  suspension  by  that  sub 
stitute  member  brought  his  person  into  a  favorable 
view  for  his  mother's  recognition.  Even  his  younger 
sisters  discovered  the  affinity  of  relationship  from  the 
unembarrassed  native  grace  with  which  he  retrieved 
his  seat,  from  the  accidental  development  of  his  latent 
hereditary  predisposition  for  caudal  suspension.  The 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATKA.  51 

coincident  attraction  that  caused  his  projection,  and  the 
providential  means  that  secured  a  hold  for  his  retrieve- 
ment,  was  of  a  character  to  excite  superstitious  awe 
with  the  unthinking  commonalty,  who  under  the  dic 
tation  of  congregation  leadership,  would  ascribe  his 
preservation  from  a  second  fall  to  a  guardian  angel's 
protection,  if  my  pioua  faith  had  been  sufficient  to 
sustain  such  an  efficacious  investment,  with  powrer  for 
redeeming  salvation.  As  with  all  mothers,  when  the 
first  outburst  of  joy  has  been  reduced,  by  the  embrace 
of  a  loved  object,  to  the  tranquil  impression  of  re 
possession,  Kan  Avan's  swung  herself  gracefully  out 
of  the  howdah,  and  hung  suspended  from  the  outer 
cornice,  from  thence  regarding  her  son  with  a  fond 
glance  of  critical  survey,  to  balance  the  reality  with 
the  wished-for  evidences  of  improvement.  Her  cher 
ished  expectations  of  his  youthful  promise  revived  by 
the  view,  with  a  cry  of  endearment  she  swung  herself 
to  his  side,  and  patting  his  back  with  a  gentle  caress, 
exclaimed  in  an  ecstacy  of  realized  impression,  "Yah 
hoo  voo,  Pat  darling!"  and  again  clasped  him  in  her 
arms.  There  is  probably  no  incident  in  life  so  mov 
ing,  in  accord  with  universal  sympathy,  as  the  unex 
pected  meeting  of  a  mother  with  her  child  after  long 
years  of  separation  ;  and  from  the  glimpse  it  affords 
of  a  joy  purified  from  the  taint  of  sordid  selfishness, 
in  its  perfection  exceeds  beyond  conception  the 
sum  of  the  body's  gratifications.  I  have  wondered 
how  affectionate  humanity  could  avoid  the  impression 
that  it  alone  could  offer,  in  cultivated  extension,  a  re 
alizing  foretaste  of  immortality, 

But  the  course  of  Kan  Avan  pere  illustrates  more 
truly  the  indifference  of  mankind  to  this  elevated 
source  of  happiness.  After  his  salutation  of  recog 
nition  he  hastened  back  to  the  house  to  enjoy  the 
stolen  solace  of  a  pipe,  as  its  open  use,  and  that  of 
ardent  spirits,  had  been  declared  by  his  daughters 
contraband,  and  opposed  to  household  affection,  as 
well  as  to  comfort  and  decency.  The  combined  effects 
of  surprise  and  the  sudden  revelation  of  the  cause  of 
his  dorsal  emotions  had  rendered  Kan  Avan  Jr.  stupid 
for  their  realization  as  actual  occurrences ;  and  after 


52  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

having  submitted  to  the  caresses  bestowed  by  his 
mother  with  a  vacant  stare,  as  if  suddenly  bereft  of 
the  power  of  self-identification,  he  scratched  his  head 
and  rubbed  his  back,  to  recover  from  memory  the  evi 
dences  of  his  continued  existence.  These  regained, 
from  familiar  sensations,  his  eyes  appealed  to  me  for 
an  assurance  that  the  scene  was  a  real  enactment ;  as 
he  had  regarded  the  doctor  in  the  light  of  a  magician, 
and  Mr.  Leslie  as  a  second-sight  seer,  who  had  from 
the  beginning  subjected  him  to  their  spells.  To  aid 
him  in  the  recovery  of  his  self-possession  I  asked  him 
to  favor  me  with  an  introduction  to  his  mother  and 
sisters,  for  I  felt  my  position  as  a  stranger  embar 
rassing.  A.  girl  of  twenty-seven  or  eight  years  of  age, 
who  appeared  to  be  the  oldest  of  his  sisters  present, 
addressed  me  with  an  apology  in  his  behalf  "What 
you  request,  sir,  cannot  be  complied  with  on  his  part, 
unless  it  will  serve  for  your  content  that  he  acknowl 
edges  us  collectively  as  sisters,  for  he  was  but  an 
infant  when  our  father  took  him  abroad  ;  but  as  an  in 
dividual  introduction  will  avail  him  as  well  as  you,  I 
will  act  as  the  medium  for  our  more  extended  personal 
acquaintance,  if  you  will  favor  me  with  your  name  for 
our  gratification  ?" 

Having  complied  with  her  request,  the  sisters  were 
introduced  singly,  by  name,  to  their  brother  and  my 
self.  But  in  deference  to  their  mother's  fond  yearn 
ings  for  her  first-born  they  confined  the  promptings  of 
their  curiosity  to  a  distant  view.  Bridget,  the  eldest 
sister  of  those  present,  having  an  innate  perception  of 
the  cause  of  her  brother's  mazed  condition  and  her 
mother's  absorbed  devotion,  asked  me  to  regard  the 
circumstances  of  the  occasion  as  an  excuse  for  any  ap 
parent  lack  of  consideration  on  their  part,  as  the  sur 
prise  overbalanced  the  command  of  thought  for  the 
choice  of  greetings  that  should  assure  me  of  an  affec 
tionate  welcome. 

Then  helping  her  brother  to  dismount  she  was  about 
to  wave  her  hand  as  a  signal  for  the  train  to  move  on, 
when  Patronimick,with  his  neck  in  the  yoked  embrace 
of  his  mother's  arm,  looked  helplessly  up  to  me  from 
among  his  troop  of  sisters,  and,  with  a  piteous  whine 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  53 

of  alarm,  addressed  me  in  the  following  terms:  "An' 
sure,  Mr.  Shawtinbach,  it's  not  you  that  will  be  after 
leaving  me  in  this  predicament, when  ye  assured  me  of 
your  protection  at  the  start,  as  the  confidant  of  my 
anxious  expectations?"  "But,"  I  answered, "your  expect 
ations  are  more  than  realized,  for  you  have  not  only 
found  a  home,  with  a  mother's  and  sisters'  abundant 
love,  but  a  natural  source  of  sympathy  for  emotions 
that  from  the  unregenerated  condition  of  my  ancestors 
I  am  only  able  to  appreciate  in  curtailed  expression! 
However,  the  distance  is  not  so  great,  but,  in  case  of 
desperate  emergency,  you  can  avail  yourself  of  my 
willing  service,  and,  with  permission,  I  will  volunteer 
my  desire  to  become  better  acquainted  with  the  mem 
bers  of  your  newly-found  family."  Upon  this  hint, 
Bridget,  with  an  apologetic  blush,  and  an  inwrought 
primitive  smile,  urged  me  to  still  afford  her  brother 
the  benefit  of  my  counsel  until  his  nature  should  be 
come  reconciled  to  an  association  with  his  family's 
peculiarities. 

Then,  with  a  parting  salutation,  Juno  trumpeted  an 
advance,  and  the  train  passed  onward  to  commence 
the  ascent  of  the  second  ghaut.  But  my  curiosity 
was  not  proof  to  a  backward  look,  while  the  avenue  to 
the  Kan  Avan  bungalow  remained  open  to  my  view, 
and  the  drawn  curtains  rendered  my  admiring  gaze 
unobtrusive.  Bridget  detained  her  brother  and  mother, 
seemingly  reluctant  to  expose  discourteously  her  back 
to  my  retreating  view;  but  at  length,  with  a  mid-tree 
glance,  I  saw  her  turn,  and  while  her  sisters  with  glad 
some  glee  sprang  with  hand  reach  from  tree  to  tree,  her 
train  with  gentle  curve  from  the  dust  she  raised,  then 
upward  turned,  and  as  it  disappeared  my  eyes  still 
gazed  through  the  vacant  space,  until  my  thoughts 
emotions  wrought  that  in  backward  flow  seemed  to  re 
vive  impressions  of  a  pre-Adarnic  state.  While  in 
visioned  mood  I  reveled  in  Eden's  garden  with  the 
gentle  Bridget,  plucking  the  choice  fruit  to  plead  with 
her  taste  for  my  love's  gratification;  depending  from  a 
tree — too  distant  for  our  projectile  power  to  reach — in 
golden  clusters  from  branches  of  the  brightest  green, 
grew  kindred  leaves  of  such  shapely  form  and  size, 


54  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

that  of  themselves  they  seemed  a  prize  worthy  to 
•wreath  my  loved  one's  head,  and  from  the  sun's  gaze 
shadow  her  eyes.  But  out  from  beneath  these  verdure 
crowns  golden  heads  of  fruit  looked  forth  so  brightly 
tinged  with  red  that  my  charmer's  lips  could  with  them 
scarce  compare.  Then  as  we  sat  poised  upon  an  em 
bowered  branch  of  a  neighboring  tree,  there  came  the 
zephyrs  waft  from  the  rustling  leaves,  and  borne  upon 
its  wings  an  odor  so  rich  in  luscious  aroma,  that  we  be 
came  entranced  with  longing  desire  to  realize  from 
taste  the  united  "  virtues  "  of  a  flavor  so  enticing  in  its 
lure  of  hopeful  gratification.  But.  to  our  measured 
glance,  the  space  between  did  by  far  exceed  the  ut 
most  limits  of  our  bodies,  motor  power  of  flight,  and  the 
shaft  below  that  up-bore  the  tempting  lure,  rose 
smooth  and  straight  from  root  to  bole  which  outward 
cast  the  foliaged  branches,  whose  fruit  had  made  us 
feel  an  inward  pang  of  want,  beyond  and  above  our 
reach.  Sad  anil  thoughtful  in  our  baffled  plight,  we 
mused  and  questioned  the  cause  that  had  placed  in 
tempting  view  this  luscious  sight,  with  space  between 
on  every  side  to  guard  it  from  our  reach  and  taste. 
From  this  inquiet  mood  reason  grew  which  made  us 
more  unhappy;  still  we  longed  and  looked  with  hope, 
and  never  a  glance  backward  deigned  to  cast  on  sus 
pended  joys  which  in  oscillating  contentment  we  had 
passed.  To  lessen  my  loved  Bridget's  desire,  and  its 
pang  assuage,  with  thought  invention,  suggestion 
prompted,  that  the  fruit  might  prove  sour  or  bitter  if 
obtained.  But  this  doubtful  plea  only  served  to 
strengthen  with  curiosity  her  desire  to  taste  the  fruit, 
for  what  she  questioned,  with  ingenious  haste,  was  it 
adorned  with  beauty  and  odor  if  not  to  enhance  with 
their  zest  its  taste  ?  When  all  our  efforts  failed  to  de 
vise  a  plan  to  obtain  and  test  the  fruit  in  proof  that 
faith  and  knowledge  correspond,  she  sullen  and  fret 
ful  grew  from  hope  deferred,  and  threw  at  me  a  spite 
ful  glance,  and  with  the  same  scorned  the  tree. 

While  her  eyes  were  cast  upon  the  tree,  with  bane 
ful  light,  an  apple  serpent's  tail  in  prehensile  coil 
embraced  the  highest  bough,  above  the  branch  that 
bore  the  fruit  coveted  by  her  glance. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  55 

Then,  with  outward  swing  and  corrugation,  he 
nearly  spanned  the  space  between  the  tree  of  knowl 
edge  and  our  lofty  seat  of  green.  With  this  move 
ment,  to  attract  our  sight,  he  addressed  Bridget  with  a 
lisping  sibilation,  and  said,  I  have  seen  your  longing 
tribulation  and  justly  admire  your  wish  to  gratify 
with  knowledge  your  desire.  To  aid  you  in  this  laud 
able  undertaking,  let  your  lover  entail  an  upper  branch 
as  I  have  done,  and  then  dependant  within  his  grasp 
your  prehensile  caudal  clasp,  and  as  you  hang  give  an 
outward  throe,  and  I  will  swing  to  meet  you  with  an 
apple  in  my  mouth,  which  you  can  seize,  and  at  your 
leisure  with  its  taste  you  will  be  with  knowledge 
crowned.  By  Bridget  urged,  in  suspension  I  held  her 
caudal  clasped,  and,  with  the  serpent,  in  outward 
swing  she  met  and  grasped  the  fruit  of  knowledge,— 
then  by  its  weight  we  fell,  and  from  our  members 
parted,  and  the  serpent  hissed,  "Tailless,  in  sin  and 
wo,  the  fruits  of  labor  you  shall  know." 

At  this  moment  the  call  of  the  mahout  for  the  ele 
phant  to  kneel  and  voices  of  welcome  aroused  me  from 
my  ludicrously-reveried  vision,  which  was  more  re 
markable  from  the  fact  that  in  style  and  train,  as  well 
as  in  expression,  it  was  entirely  foreign  to  my  natural 
promptings  of  thought.  If  it  had  been  a  sleep  vision 
or  dream,  the  occurrences  of  the  day  would  have  been 
quite  sufficient  for  an  exciting  cause;  but  the  disci 
pline  of  my  mind,  under  waking  control,  was  more  in 
clined  to  serious  thought  in  tracing  from  cause  to  ef 
fect  an  experience  founded  upon  natural  sequence. 
As  the  glad  salutations  of  the  household  greeted  me 
with  equal  frankness  and  warmth  bestowed  upon  their 
long-absent  relatives,  my  feelings  of  self-possession 
were  soon  restored. 

LESLIE  HOLM,  and  its  immediate  surroundings,  im 
pressed  me  with  their  singularly  attractive  beauties,  and 
the  corresponding  taste  displayed  in  cultivation  was 
in  keeping  with  nature's  capital  endowment.  But  for 
the  day  the  household  attractions  allowed  me  but  a 
glance  abroad.  All  the  residents  had  collected  to  wel 
come  the  travelers'  return,  but  the  exchange  of  greet- 


56  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

ings  was  free  from  exuberant  and  noisy  demonstra 
tions,  yet  there  seemed  to  be  a  happy  undercurrent  of 
mingled  joy  that  was  imparted  to  me*. 

Our  elephants  had  kneeled  at  the  junction  of  the 
forest  avenue  with  that  of  the  plantation  marsangs  and 
their  shaded  fruit-trees.  If  my  visioned  reverie  had 
not  withheld  me  from  an  outward  observance  of  chang 
ing  scenes,  my  attention  would  have  been  gratified 
with  the  evolutions  and  progress  of  an  escort  which 
had  attended  the  train  from  its  first  entrance  into  the 
valley  of  the  Saar  Soong.  rihis  was  composed  of  del 
egations  from  the  Orang  Kubu  and  Badda  changs,  on 
one  side,  and  the  long  and  short-tailed  Gibbons  Orang 
on  the  other. 

The  doctor,  Olu  Babi— grandfather  to  the  returned 
traveler — took  me  in  charge  on  my  descent  from  the 
howdah,  and  after  an  exchange  of  salutations  with  the 
assembled  representative  residents  of  varied  cosmopoli 
tan  types,  the  elephant  train  proceeded  up  the  avenue 
while  we  followed  on  foot.  The  scene  to  which  I  was 
suddenly  introduced  was  one  of  startling  novelty, 
and  appeared  to  me,  in  vision  train,  as  the  transmitted 
product  of  my  Eden  alliance.  In  answer  to  my  puz 
zled  look  of  inquiry,  Doctor  Olu  informed  me  that  all 
strangers  on  entering  the  valleys  were  subject  to  cer 
tain  impressions  which  seemed 'to  be  opposed  in  a  re 
markable  way  to  their  customary  habits  of  thought. 
But  after  a  time  they  became  reconciled  to  the  influ 
ence,  and  were  able  to  derive  from  it  happy  instruc 
tion.  "We  have  certain  methodical  habits  and  customs 
which  we  have  tested  and  found  in  proof  conservative, 
in  greater  or  less  degree,  to  our  comfort  and  happiness. 
To  make  these  resources  more  apparent  in  contrast  to 
the  opposing  and  delusive  follies  patronized  by  your 
progressive  civilization,  we  present  to  our  visitors  in 
germ-maine  enactment  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
foundation  upon  which  they  have  reared  their  theories 
of  present  and  future  happiness."  At  this  moment,  as 
if  in  illustration  of  what  the  doctor  wished  to  convey — 
and  to  my  surprised  dismay — a  flock  of  American 
green  parrots  settled  upon  the  trees  of  the  avenue  over 
head,  and  in  strident  shouts  pitched  in  discordant 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  57 

keys,  made  the  welkin  resound  with  the  salutation, 
"  Welcome  to  M.  Shawtinbach,  hip,  hip,  hurrah!  Now 
a  tiger!"  This  last;  call  was  re-echoed  with  a  pro 
longed  screech,  and  the  salutation  was  repeated  inter 
mixed  with  irrelevant  word  and  sentence  variations, 
such  as  we  are  accustomed  to  hear  uttered  from  patri 
otic  crowds  on  election  days  and  public  celebrations, 
when  a  prominent  individual  is  present. 

The  impression  was  so  ludicrous  in  its  effect,  and 
wonderful  in  its  concerted  adaptation  and  aptness, that  I 
could  not  avoid  a  hearty  response  in  laughter,  but  felt 
my  face  crimson  with  the  realization  of  the  intention 
conveyed  by  this  educated  prelude  to  my  visit.  The  doc 
tor,  observing  this  emotional  exhibition  of  sensitive 
ness,  apologetically  observed,  "that  I  must  not  feel 
annoyed  at  anything  likely  to  transpire  during  my  stay 
at  the  Holm,  because  it,  as  in  the  present  instance, 
was  addressed  personally,  as  the  intention  would  ever 
be  free  from  malice  and  solely  devoted  for  the  inter 
est  of  practical  demonstration.  "In  addition,  he  assured 
me  that  while  T  was  a  resident  with  them  their  wel 
come  would  extend  to  all  my  likings;  with  the  confi 
dence  that,  as  a  guest,  I  would  respect  all  the  real  es 
sentials  which,  under  proof,  they  had  established  by 
example  for  the  real  advantage  of  the  acknowledged 
dependents.  In  confirmation,  he  said  he  would  offer 
me  not  only  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  but  of  natu 
ralization,  and  stopping,  he,  with  the  communion  and 
masonic  formalities  of  adoption,  offered  me  his  hand. 
This  ceremonial  salutation  seemed  to  be  taken  as  a 
signal  by  a  venerable  long-tailed  Gibbons  Orang,  who 
dropped  from  his  hand-hold  on  the  limb  of  a  neigh 
boring  tree,  and  approached  me  with  a  deferential 
gait,  stooping  from  the  erect  as  if  with  the  wish  to 
deprecate  the  superior  dignity  of  his  tail — which  curved 
gracefully  above  his  head — for  an  act  of  condescension 
from  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  their  pre-histori- 
cal  condition  before  the  fall  of  our  first  parents,  which 
curtailed  their  joys  and  brought  sin  and  death  into  the 
world  as  the  penalty  of  transgression.  With  a  nod  to 
the  doctor  he  offered  me  his  hand,  and  allowed  me  to 


53      INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

shake  it  as  an  assurance  of  welcome  in  behalf  of  his 
constituents.  After  he  had  he  regained  his  hold  upon 
the  limb,  the  leader  of  the  short-tailed  chang  dropped, 
advanced,  and  received  the  nod,  proffered  his  left 
hand,  which  I  shook  to  his  satisfaction,  and  in  turn  the 
Kubu  and  Badda  hybrid  chiefs.  Doctor  Olu  reminded 
me  that  I  must  observe  the  caste  distinction  in  the  or  • 
der  of  presentation  when  the  high  or  long-tailed  repre 
sentatives  were  present,  by  offering  the  short  my  left 
hand  in  token  of  illegitimate  or  sinful  birth,  the  right 
being  offered  by  the  long-tailed  as  an  act  of  concession 
or  pardoning  grace. 

The  orangs  remained  stationary  in  suspension,  after 
the  ceremony  of  welcome,  and  as  we  advanced  up  the 
avenue  the  doctor  intermitted,  with  the  exchange  of 
salutations,  initial  instruction  regarding  the  usages  to 
be  observed  in  intercourse  with  the  various  represen 
tatives  of  the  Holm.  "In  association  we  trim  our 
speech  of  all  complimentary  superfluity,  and  so  shape 
and  manage  our  discourse  that  no  margin  is  left  for 
misapprehension;  and  our  pastimes  embody  as  much 
of  the  useful  and  instructive  as  possible.  By  this 
course  we  are  never  surprised  in  word  or  act  with 
inconsistencies  which  puzzle,  or  exceed  our  pow 
ers  of  clear  and  rational  demonstration,  for  the  easy 
comprehension  of  those  who  seek  to  benefit  themselves 
and  others  by  the  adoption  of  our  example.  In  the 
review  of  my  past  life — a  good  portion  of  which,  like 
your  own,  has  been  passed  in  travel — all  the  ruptures 
and  discordant  acts  that  I  have  ever  known,  arose 
from  the  heedless  use  of  the  tongue,  and  with  the  pre 
monitions  they  inaugurated,  I  greatly  prefer  the  repu 
tation  of  the  taciturn  and  unsociable,  who  find  within 
themselves  abundant  resources  for  thought,  to  the  vol 
uble  conversationalist  who  improvises  from  impulse. 
Upon  these  admonitory  points  we  all  agree,  so  that 
you  must  not  think  it  strange,  or  question  the  perfect 
accord  of  our  hospitality,  if  you  find  us  at  times  in 
clined  to  thoughtful  retirement  within  ourselves." 

Our  conversation  at  this  point  was  stayed  by  the  affec 
tionate  welcome  extended  to  me  by  relatives  residing  in 
distant  mid-mountain  valleys.  We  had  now  arrived 


M,    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  59 

at  a  hill  promontory  jutting  out  into  the  valley,  around 
which  the  avenue  was  continued,  although  a  shorter 
one  followed  the  course  of  a  rivulet  ravine  over  its 
base.  Rounding  the  point  upon  the  raised  slope,  we 
gained  an  extended  view  of  the  plateau  011  either  hand, 
and  realized  with  amazed  admiration  the  indescribable 
loveliness  of  its  surpassing  beauty  ;  and  no  longer 
wondered  that  its  justly-extolled  fame  had  overreached 
geographical  description  in  the  days  of  Herodotus, 
Ptolemy  and  Diodorus,  bearing  upon  its  reputation 
the  significant  title  of  fortunate  insula,  and  by  them 
described  as  the  abode  of  the  blessed. 

THE  INCLOSUEE  OF  THE  HOLM  surrounded  the  rimmed 
circumference  of  the  summit  of  a  flattened  mound 
which  overlooked  the  wide  expanse  and  extremes  of 
the  plain,  and  contained  within  the  walled  circuit 
twenty  acres  of  ground.  The  doctor  in  his  description, 
said  that  in  its  present  state  it  was  triply  entitled  to 
its  name,  as  it  surmounted  a  hill  that  was  made  by  the 
flow  and  union  of  streams,  a  river  islet,  while  the  holm 
ilex,  or  evergreen  oak,  formed  its  park  and  avenue 
shade  trees.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  after  my  arri 
val,  I  found  myself  the  inhabitant  of  a  bijou  cottage 
under  the  shade  of  the  elm  and  trained  holm  oak,  of 
high  growth,  while  in  nearer  proximity,  it  was  embow 
ered  in  shrub-tree  growths  of  the  fragrant  oleander 
and  spice  trees,  to  give  piquancy  to  the  bouquet  flavor 
of  odorous  flowering  plants  ;  while  within  and  without 
the  air  was  cooled  with  flowing  founts,  and  freshened 
in  the  rooms  by  revolving  punkas — a  yankee  invention 
— which  contributed  not  only  to  a  free  circulation  of 
air,  but  freedom  from  winged  insect  molestation.  In 
like  manner,  pre-vision  had  furnished  me  with  the 
means  of  maintaining  the  cleanly  purity  of  my  quar 
ters,  independent  of  servant  aid  ;  if,  as  my  attendant 
remarked,  his  labors  overlooked  anything  that  would 
contribute  to  my  comfort  I  must  acknowledge,  that 
since  leaving  Singapore,  the  force  of  example  had  de 
prived  me  of  what  I  had  before  considered  one  of  the 
essential  luxuries  of  life;  and  now  that  they  garnished 
the  sideboard  in  the  tempting  guise  of  Habana  puras, 


60  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

and  Manilla  rosas,  in  company  with  wines  of  the 
choicest  vintage,  I  felt  constrained  to  still  resist  the 
desire  that  prompted  indulgence  to  complete  my  habit 
ual  estimate  of  perfect  enjoyment. 

A  moment's  contemplation  of  the  purity  and  fresh 
ness  of  the  atmosphere  that  pervaded  the  apartments, 
to  which  was  added  the  delightful  aroma  of  flowers, 
selected  for  their  freedom  from  oppressive  strength, 
made  me  feel  that  in  thought  the  desire  for  indul 
gence  was  a  profanation  of  the  chaste  decrees  of  the 
Holm's  presiding  genius;  and  I  dismissed  its  lure  with 
a  thankful  feeling  of  relief.  After  sufficient  time  had 
been  allowed  me  for  cleanly  renovation  I  was  sum 
moned  to  the  refectory.  On  my  entrance  I  was  sur 
prised  with  an  introduction  to  the  great-grand-parents 
of  the  younger  Leslie,  who  had  so  kindly  extended  to 
me  the  privilege  of  reading  his  abstract  of  ancestral 
experience  in  the  settlement  of  Saar  Soong,  as  well  as 
the  rare  opportunity  of  testing  the  revealed  proofs 
by  a  welcome  sojourn  at  the  Holm.  To  express  the 
exact  emotional  characteristics  of  my  astonishment  in 
being  presented  to  the  parentcedors  of  five  genera  • 
tions,  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health,  activity  and. 
all  their  faculties  in  a  degree  equal  to  the  child  repro 
ductions  of  the  last,  would  be  impossible.  It  will  be 
sufficient  to  state,  that  my  deferential  admiration  was 
content  to  listen,  without  venturing  to  take  a  more 
active  part  in  the  topics  of  conversation  than  to  ex 
press  my  opinion  when  called  in  question  ;  and  I  am 
afraid,  from  the  feeling  of  awe  inspired,  that  my  an 
swers  were  not  as  thoughtfully  intelligible  as  I  could 
'have  wished,  with  the  desire  of  gaining  their  respect. 

OUR  REPAST  was  simple.  The  first  course  was  roast 
fowl,  and  the  second,  of  beef  boiled  and  roasted  with 
vegetables.  All  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  temper 
ate  and  tropical  latitudes  were  cultivated  on  the  estate; 
and  Mr.  Leslie  senior  informed  me  that  many  had  been 
greatly  improved  in  flavor  and  size  by  a  process  of 
hybridization,  which  he  described  as  having  originated 
from  an  accidental  scientific  experiment  developed  in 
the  transition  of  seeds  from  side  to  side  of  the  mouth 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  61 

pouches  of  one  of  their  germ-man- ate  cousins  of  the 
Gibbons  species.  ' '  Although  the  discovery  was  pure 
ly  accidental,  his  teeth  having  ingerminated  the  vital 
organism  by  involution  in  transition,  we  could  not, 
in  view  of  scientific  precedent,  withold  from  him  the 
honors  usually  bestowed  by  enlightened  societies  and 
academies  for  developments  inaugurated  by  a  process 
of  rumination  which  proved  so  elaborate  in  reasonable 
results.  We  accordingly,  by  reflexion,  made  him  a 
Knight  Discoverer  of  the  ancient  order  of  Orangs  (K.  D. 
A.  O.  O.).  His  insignia  order  of  decoration  is  a  golden 
seed  within  a  seed,  but  half  evolved  to  view.  He  has 
since  achieved  from  an  a  posteriori  discovery  the  in 
itial  title  of  K.  E.  A.  S.  O.,  with  a  tail  decoration  for 
the  legitimate  improvement  of  his  species.  While  you 
approve  with  taste  the  high  order  of  merit  obtained 
by  this  bouquet  hybridization  of  the  orang-ge  (we  hon 
ored  the  fruit  with  his  specie's  name)  and  chiromoya, 
I  will  state  that  our  Saar  Soong  royalty  orders  and 
scientific  honors,  as  awards  from  society  association, 
are  like  your  own,  void  of  any  intrinsic  worth  to  the 
recipient,  unless  he  is  possessed  with  an  appreciative 
endowment  of  vanity. 

"  Although  gladness  makes  us  jubilant  with  the  self 
ish  gratification  of  again  embracing  our  own  children 
after  their  long  absence,  we  are  not  insensible  to  an 
increase  of  happiness  from  the  presence  of  our  other 
guests.  For  we  acknowledge  a  perpetual  increase  of 
joy  from  associate  participation  by  the  kindly  disposed, 
and  are  glad  to  impart  its  impression  to  our  germ- 
manic  neophytes  Your  neighbor  on  the  left  is  a  di 
rect  descendant  from  the  celebrated  discoverer  I  have 
mentioned,  but  as  yet  he  has  shown  no  marked  predis 
position  for  science."  The  neighbor  he  referred  to 
was  a  venerable  long-tailed  Gibbons,  who  occupied 
the  next  seat  at  the  table,  and  notwithstanding  his 
decorous  behavior  and  formal  politeness,  my  compo 
sure  had  been  severely  taxed  to  hold  in  restraint  my 
disposition  to  laugh  at  the  odd  conjunction;  and  but 
for  a  similar  disposal  of  other  members  of  the  species, 
in  near  proximity  to  the  ladies,  my  feelings  of  repug 
nance  would  have  been  inclined  to  construe  the  intro- 


62  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

duction  as  a  personal  reflection  bordering  upon  insult. 
Apparently  aware  of  what  was  passing  in  my  mind, 
Mr.  Leslie  continued:  "  We  supposed  that,  as  a  nat 
uralist  of  ability,  you  would  not  be  content  with  see 
ing  the  objects  of  your  curiosity  for  a  superficial  re 
port,  but  desired  an  opportunity  to  learn  and  judge  of 
the  orang's  real  status  as  the  germ-manic  source  of  our 
race. 

"As  you  will  observe,  we  have  representatives  of  the 
three  detailed  species  of  orang  in  their  progressive  ap 
proach  to  manhood.  Of  the  troglodyte  orang,  and 
the  causes  which  have  reduced  him  i'rom  the  legiti 
mate  track  of  elevated  progression,  we  shall  speak 
when  we  have  fully  impressed  you  with  the  influence 
of  habit  and  custom  for  effecting  material  changes  in 
the  organic  formations  of  the  vegetable  and  animal 
'kingdoms.'  You  have  directed  inquiring  glances  to 
the  '  ladies/  as  if  to  question  the  impression  that  our 
orang  guests  make  upon  them. 

"  Biblical  record  informs  us  that  their  dress  of  fur 
was  the  fashionable  attire  in  which  they  appeared  dur 
ing  their  happy  residence  in  the  garden  of  Eden, 
before  Eve's  curiosity  and  experimental  accident  re 
duced  herself  and  husband  to  depilation,  and  a  conse 
quent  knowledge  of  their  nakedness,  which  brought 
shame,  theology,  law,  disease,  doctors,  and  death  into 
the  world,  with  all  their  woes.  But  it  is  quite  suffi 
cient  that  we,  the  lineal  descendants  of  Adam  and 
Eve,  should  suffer  from  the  artificial  habits  invoked 
by  their  fall  without  subjecting  the  perfect  offspring  of 
a  collateral  branch  to  the  constraint  imposed  by  me 
chanical  appliances  in  substitution  for  those  of  crea 
tive  endowment.  Now  that  we  have  satisfied  your 
curiosity  with  associate  evidences  of  primitive  sim 
plicity,  in  freedom  from  want  and  misery;  such  as  our 
first  parents  enjoyed  before  they  were  disabled,  and  in 
contrast  suffered  the  unlimited  cravings  engendered 
from  a  transgression  of  natural  instincts,  we  will 
dismiss  our  orang  guests  from  the  penalty  of  further 
attendance  in  exampled  conformity  to  the  usages  of 
our  '  depraved  and  sin-begotten  condition.'  "  With  a 
sign  from  Mr.  Leslie,  the  three  orang  grades  of  as- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  63 

cending  perfection,  from  bad,  better,  best,  arose  from 
their  seats  with  alacrity,  and  bowed  themselves  out, 
showing  evident  symptoms  of  relief  when  they  re 
gained  the  branches  of  their  native  trees,  and  in  the 
order  of  their  coming  swung  themselves  in  swift  hand- 
gait  back  to  their  forest  martruvos. 

When  they  had  disappeared  from  sight,  all  those 
disengaged  from  the  active  employments  of  the  estate, 
peculiar  to  their  approaching  eventide  hour,  collected 
in  a  garden  amphitheatre  of  spice  trees  to  listen  to 
a  "  chata  "  or  running  review  of  the  events  which  had 
transpired  in  the  home  affairs  during  the  absence  of  the 
travelers . 

But  the  younger  Babi  suggested  that  it  would  be 
better  to  first  initiate  me  into  a  clear  genealogical  un 
derstanding  of  the  derivative  source  of  mankind  from 
scriptural  interpretation;  as  many  of  the  illusions 
might  shock  me  from  the  partial  impressions  inculca 
ted  from  the  imaginary  style  adopted  by  Noah  in  de 
scribing  the  earthly  advent  of  our  race,  as  well  as  the 
misconceptions  which  were  rife  from  the  prejudicial 
encouragement  of  sectarian  teachings.  "Mr.  Shawtin- 
bach,"  he  observed,  "seemed  to  be  so  startled  at  meeting 
our  germ-manic  cousins  at  the  dinner  table,  that  I  saw 
at  once  he  still  entertained  the  common  sectarian  whim 
that  sin  had  sanctified  the  process  of  eating  with  the 
Caucasian  Christians,  and  made  its  mechanical  aids 
and  accompaniments  the  means  of  earthly  salvation 
from  contaminating  association  with  those  descended 
from  their  sinless  ante-progenitors. 

"  Like  the  thousand  and  one  legendary  saws  de 
rived  from  Mosaic  ritualisms  founded  upon  imaginaiy 
distinctions  of  selfish  preference,  they  still  give  utter 
ance  to  the  hackneyed  phrase,  '  feast  of  reason  and  flow 
of  souF  at  the  'luxurious3  banquets  of  society  designed 
signed  for  self-laudation  by  elect  gourmands. 

"  Although  it  is  an  attested  fact  that  Malasians  claim, 
prove  and  honor  their  descent  from  the  orang,  still  as- 
it  is  a  truth  repugnant  to  the  civilized  code — which 
has  nothing  to  recommend  it  but  absurd  inconsistency 
— I  was  obliged  to  hold  my  peace  and  bear  the  implied 
gibes  in  recognition  of  my  resemblance,  in  personal 


64      INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

conformation,  to  the  happy  progenitors  of  a  sinful  and 
ungrateful  race  of  apostate  children.  But  I  am  an 
ticipating  the  selection  of  a  biblical  commentator,  and 
will  defer  my  impressions  derived  from  civilized  asso 
ciation  until  they  can  be  used  for  practical  illustration 
of  suitable  topics  of  discourse.  Mr.  Leslie,  senior, 
G.  P.,  said  that  in  accordance  with  the  time-honored 
civilized  custom  "  he  would  call  the  meeting  to  order  " 
and  consider  himself  duly  elected  to  the  "chair,"  and 
would,  in  the  capacity  of  president,  nominate  Doctor 
Olu  Babi  senior,  G-.  P.,  as  the  biblical  ethno-genealo- 
gical  commentor  for  the  evening!  "All  those  in  favor 
of  the  nomination  will  signify  it  by  saying  aye;  and 
those  opposed,  No."  Anxious  to  show  my  approval 
of  the  nomination,  and  from  the  political  impression 
of  my  democratic  education,  I  gave  my  aye  in  the 
usual  loud  "  caucus  "  tone,  and  was  startled  with  its 
en  suite  repetition  from  the  foliaged  concealment  of 
the  trees  overhead,  and  became  aware  that  my  lead 
had  been  sanctioned  by  a  parrot  constituency. 

After  the  customary  announcement  of  the  president, 
"the  ayes  have  it,"  he  observed  my  annoyed  and  con 
scious  blush  and  replied  to  my  mental  inquiry.  "  Your 
wonder  is  excited  at  the  concerted  promptness  of  our 
political  tonguesters,  but  with  your  experience  it  will 
be  quite  unnecessary  to  refer  you  to  sugared  bribes  to 
second  the  memory's  drill. 

"Doctor  Olu,  as  with  familiarity  we  are  wont  to  style 
him,  has  had  an  experience  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
years  since  he  emerged,  with  titled  sanction,  from  the 
empirical  teachings  of  the  Physician's  College,  Lon 
don,  a  licentiate  practitioner  of  medicine  and  surgery. 
A  native  of  Travancore,  the  extreme  southern  depart 
ment  of  India,  and  by  birth  a  Hindoo,  descended 
from  the  Apeorines,  the  most  ancient  and  highest 
caste  of  the  long-tailed  monkey  worshipers,  you  will 
find  him  unprejudiced,  notwithstanding  his  long  resi 
dence  in  England,  during  an  active  stage  in  her  co 
operative  missionary  effort  to  convert  the  Indians  into 
good  tax  and  tithe-paying  English  Christians  of  the 
established  church  militant,  who  would  take  kindly 
to  resident  rulers  and  bishops  with  a  plurality  of  liv- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  65 

logs.  Our  army  companionship  established  between  us 
a  feeling  of  mutual  reliance  and  friendship  of  affec 
tion,  to  which  the  loss  of  his  infant  daughter — that  was 
stolen  by  the  Kubu  orangs— added  sympathy  to 
strengthen  the  alliance.  These  ties  have  increased  in 
trusting  confidence  until  they  have  become  co-equal 
to  those  of  the  fondest  relationship.  With  this  trib 
ute  to  the  doctor's  worth  I  will  allow  him  to  vindicate 
the  capacity  of  his  intellectual  reach  and  judgment." 
The  doctor's  grateful  smile  recompensed  Mr.  Leslie 
for  his  affectionate  eulogism  as  a  pleasant  prelude  to 
his  exposition.  The  terms  of  the  chata,  or  discourse, 
I  will  endeavor  to  transcribe,  so  that  in  reading  the 
written  copy  you  will  be  able  to  catch  some  of  the 
characteristics'  of  style  peculiar  to  the  relator. 


"  CHATA  "  IST.    BY  DOCTOR  OLU  BABI. 

"  Of  all  the  religions  which  my  knowledge  of  lan 
guages  has  enabled  me  to  investigate,  that  of  Con-Fuse- 
TJs,  the  prophet  of  the  Chinese  deity,  Pay-God-Ah,  is 
the  most  ancient  and  most  reliable  in  its  indirect  testi 
mony  with  regard  to  the  origin  of  mankind.  From  a 
hieroglyphic  inscription  of  the  incaustic  style,  known 
to  the  pre-historic  citizens  of  China,  just  anterior  to 
the  creation  of  the  world  by  the  Mosaic  God,  trans 
lated  from  a  porcelain  jar  by  the  Keramic  priest, 
Hy-Long-Fel-Loo,  we  learn  the  following  facts: 
'  This  urn  was  inclosed  in  the  cornerstone  (menhir, 
men-here)  of  the  foundation  of  an  ancient  temple 
oak.  Inform,  it  resembled  the  orang  or  Chinese 
"coolie,"  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  his  knees  re 
tracted  against  his  breast,  and  arms  akimbo,  in 
correspondence  with  the  style  of  vase  known  a& 
Egyptian.  The  space  within  the  crook  of  the  elbows 
and  spread  of  the  hands,  above  the  alse  of  the  pelvis, 
caused  it  to  appear,  in  descriptive  outline,  like  the 
Moorish,  known  in  Spain  at  the  present  time  as  the 
jarr  de  Sancho  Panza  reversed.  The  head,  as  it  was  de 
picted  by  the  artist  Chung  Foo  Doo  Ree,  whose  emi 
nent  talents  in  the  graphic  intaglio  perspective  have 


66  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

been  immortalized  in  Chinese  lac,  is  turned  with  the 
face  looking  downward  over  the  left  shoulder,  with  a 
regardful  expression  of  sadness  directed  to  the  last  ebb 
of  his  caudal  support  for  angelic  hope.  The  abdomi 
nal  continuation  of  his  bust  looking  forward — with  a 
stomachic  expression  of  rotund  pleasure  to  the  edible 
future  of  his  earthly  existence — seems  to  be  stoically  re 
gardless  of  the  wane  of  his  posterior  member,  upon 
which  he  was  dependent  for  happy  freedom  in  his 
semi-celestial  state.  Even  the  repentant  spasm,  which 
has  risen  in  colicky  appeal  and  judgment  against  the 
unmerciful  labors  imposed  by  appetite  upon  the  belly 
god's  viscegeral  functions,  bears  the  impress  of  super 
stitious  fear;  contorted  with  prayerful  emotions  for 
hopeful  regeneration  from  the  sins  of  the  flesh  and 
devil,  and  restoration  to  the  happy  state  of  beatific  en 
joyment  vouchsafed  before  his  fall,  imposed  from  intail 
the  omniverous  penalty  of  labor  for  its  gratification. 
Please  excuse  the  diffuse  descriptive  tendency  pecu 
liar  to  my  Hindu  origin,  when  in  tersely  classical  En 
glish,  the  attitude  could  have  been  presented  to  your 
view  in  the  more  strikingly  apt  language  of  the  Chris 
tian  matron,  who  saw  her  husband  in  a  fist  fight  with 
his  pagan  coachman  losing  ground,  and  was,  in  a  fair 
way,  likely  to  receive  the  punishment  he  wished  to  con 
fer^  when  she  raised  the  sash  and  called,  '  Kecollect, 
James,  the  lesson  I  taught  you  when  hard  pushed  by 
the  devil — "hit  him  in  the  stomach!  wind  him!  double 
him  up ! '  "  These  advisory  hints  were  quickened  in  de 
cisive  utterance  by  a  well-directed  blow  dealt  by  the 
coachman,  but  with  the  encouraging  assurance  of  his 
wife's  watchful  care,  the  husband  rallied,  and,  follow 
ing  her  advice,  illustrated  the  last  clause,  and  in  con 
figuration  reduced  his  opponent  to  an  exact  counter 
part  with  that  of  the  resurrected  vase  I  have  attempt 
ed  to  describe.  But  we  cannot  be  too  particular  in 
impressing  upon  the  understanding  a  comprehensive 
view  of  a  relic  of  such  importance,  marking  as  it  does, 
a  line  of  demarcation  in  racial  distinction,  and  the 
cause  of  degeneration. 

"  Just   above  an  index  finger  relict  of  a  tail,  there 
was  inscribed  in  tablet  device  on  the  back  the  follow- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  67 

ing  memorial  legend:  '  Chung,  choo,  foo,  China  chang 
Orang!'  which  is  rendered  by  Hy-Long-Fel-Loo,  'the 
last  relict  specimen  of  a  tail  of  the  celestial  race  of 
China  orangs.' 

"  ON  THE  DAY  set  apart  for  opening  the  urn,  a  great 
multitude  assembled,  wondering  with  curiosity  what 
this  long-entombed  memorial  of  celestial  import  con 
tained.  After  they  had  joined  in  procession,  march 
ing  and  kneeling  around  the  altar  upon  which  it  was 
placed,  under  the  direction  of  the  bonsa  Pope-ing, 
or  holy  high  priest  mandarin,  the  while  burning  Joss 
(Jocko)  papers  (papyrus)  in  censors;  the  jar  was  un 
sealed  and  opened.  The  perfume  that  ascended  and 
pervaded  the  nostrils  of  the  wonder-struck  devotees 
was  of  a  character  calculated  to  impart  a  feeling  of 
veneration  for  its  great  antiquity,  as  well  as  the  im 
pression  that  they  possessed  within  themselves  the  at 
tributes  of  the  divinity  from  which  it  originated. 
When  the  officiating  priest  had  partially  recovered 
from  the  startling  effects  of  this  most  reverend  viati 
cum  of  a  past  age,  he  proceeded,  with  a  pious  dread, 
in  puffing  self-deprecation  of  his  own  unworthiness, 
to  investigate  and  reveal  the  evangelic  source  of  this 
regenerating  spirit  of  the  resurrected  urn.  Inserting 
his  hand  with  becoming  caution,  and  a  respectful 
evasion,  or  dodge,  of  the  fumes  his  fingers  remortal- 
ized,  he  drew  forth  from  the  embalming  shroud  a 
vellum  pouch  of  sausage  form  and  oriental  size.  This 
germ-manic  memento  of  a  first  cause  was  laid  upon 
the  altar,  and  the  assemblage,  awed  with  ominous  fore 
bodings  from  its  portentious  indications,  bowed  them 
selves  down  in  a  quadrumanal  attitude,  and  wor 
shiped,  with  trembling  and  fear,  the  prophetic  em 
blem  of  a  stomach's  depravity.  When  a  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  for  ceremonial  purification  by  joss- 
stick  and  censor-fumigatory  prayers,  the  high  priest, 
with  reverentially-averted  head,  unsealed  the  pyloric 
orifice  of  the  vellum  receptacle,  and  exposed  to  view 
twelve  kaolin  tablets.  Upon  these,  in  intaglio  cipher, 
were  burned  unknown  characters,  evidently  of  a  date 
anterior  to  the  back  inscription  of  the  memorial  urn. 


68  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  A  deeper  investigation  discovered  other  tablets  of  a 
more  recent  date,  with  characters  in  nearer  approach 
to  an  alphabetical  foundation.  These,  after  a  sage 
analysis  by  a  Tartar  linguist,  were  found  to  contain 
the  written  commandments  of  the  most  high  god  Con- 
Fuse- Us,  creator  of  the  Dy-nasty  worlds  of  Tart-ry 
and  Chi-na.  From  the  fact  that  they  were  under  the 
seal  of  Dose-Us,  the  minister  of  the  interior,  and  fun 
damental  disburser,  and  tributary  to  the  world  be 
low;  under  the  sub-directorships  of  the  rector  and 
curate  of  soils,  and  were  found  deposited  in  the  sac 
below  the  cardiac  orifice  of  the.  vellum  stomach,  it 
was  evident  that  they  were  direct  dispensations  of  the 
most  high  god  Con-Fuse-Us.  In  confirmatory  attes 
tation  of  his  divine  authority,  was  the  fact  that  they 
had  remained  through  the  lapse  of  untold  ages  undi 
gested  in  their  stomach  depository  to  the  period  of 
their  revelation,  which  discovered  the  immutable  in 
fallibility  of  their  decrees.  The  Tartar  iu-ter-pre-ter 
and  sooth- say-err,  with  the  aid  of  his  commentators, 
was  enabled,  after  enshrouding  himself  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes,  as  a  preparatory  dust  offering  of  purifica 
tion,  to  render  by  translation  and  annotation  the  mys 
terious  import  of  the  inspired  pyloric  tablet  ingesta 
revelations  of  the  most  high  Trinity  god  Con-Fuse-Us 
and  Co.,  as  intelligible  to  faith,  as  they  were  unintel 
ligible  to  reason. 

'•'  But  as  the  injunctions  of  the  cardiac  tablets  were 
more  legible  in  habit  impaction,  as  a  deglutition  se 
quence,  than  those  of  the  god's  earlier  inspirations,  I 
will  offer  them  upon  the  altar  of  your  consideration  as 
a  sacrificial  dispensation  from  the  remote  past: 

"  '  FuN-Cnoo-Foo  ;  MONT-KEE-ORANG.  ) 
"  '  (Celestial  Abode  of  the  Lord's  Elect !)  [ 

"  'Decrees,  Injunctions,  and  Commandments  of  the  Most 
High  Trinity  Joss-Nua,  Con-Fuse-  Us,  and  Son,  U- 
Night-Ed,  In  One  !  The  All-mighty  Creator  of  the 
Tar-tar  and  Chi-na  Worlds  of  the  Celestial  King 
dom  of  Fu-Chu  11  To  his  created  servants,  Dam 
Orang,  and  Mad-Dam  Orang: 

"  '  WHEREAS,  It  hath  pleased  us,  by  our  own  self-ore- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  69 

ating  power  of  involution,  to  evolve  you  as  a  happy 
pair,  in  our  own  image,  to  become  the  immaculate  res 
idents  of  our  earthly  abode  ;  the  paradise  of  Fun-Foo- 
Choo,  in  perpetuity;  with  our  power  of  fore-ordina 
tion  and  knowledge  founded  upon  our  special  and  in 
fallible  privilege,  we  pronounce  you  one,  now  and  for 
ever,  A-men  !  Male  and  female  We  have  created  you, 
but  in  the  unity  of  spirit  one,  while  you  obey  our  in 
junctions  !  For  of  the  dust  of  the  earth  we  have 
made  you,  and  breathed  into  you  our  breath  of  life, 
so  that  you  have  become  living  souls  for  the  reflection 
of  good  or  evil.  In  the  purity  of  your  present  state, 
we  decree  for  your  support,  in  happy  freedom  from 
labor,  the  fruits  of  all  the  trees  of  the  garden,  with 
the  sole  exception,  and  reservation,  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  in  the  midst  thereof  !  The  fruit  of  this 
tree — the  high  cucco — contains  the  bread,  milk  and 
meat  in  reproductive  combination,  as  the  representa 
tive  of  union  between  our  vegetable  and  animal  king 
doms;  and  as  a  guard  for  your  protection,  and  a  warn 
ing  caution,  we  denounce  it  to  your  understanding,  as 
perilous  in  desire  and  fatal  to  your  happy  content 
ment  in  attainment  ;  in-as-much  as  it  will  open  to 
your  view  an  illimitable  field  for  surmise  and  expec 
tation  beyond  the  reach  of  actual  realization. 

<( '  In  Penalty  for  the  punishment  of  your  disobedient 
infatuation — if  by  any  means  you  partake  of  this  hy 
brid  fruit — you  will  suffer  from  an  omnivorous  craving 
of  desire  and  a  greed  that  shall  extend  to  the  accumu 
lation  of  the  most  worthless  things  of  earth.  It  will 
also  beget  within  thee  a  lust  for  the  procreation  of  thy 
kind,  who  will  suffer  in  multiplication,  an  increase  of 
the  maladies  incurred  from  your  transgression,  until, 
with  the  constant  re-inoculation  of  disease,  the  soils 
of  your  descendants  will  become  so  distempered  with 
hereditary  accumulations  that  the  kindly  affections  of 
your  first  endowment  of  happy  contentment,  will  give 
place  to  vanity,  envy,  hatred  and  revenge,  as  the  pre 
lude  to  self -extermination.  In  view  of  this,  our  test 
temptation,  and  warning  against  your  seeking  the 
means  of  indulgence,  that  will  lead  to  the  curtail  of 


70  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

your  present  caudial  contentment  and  union,  as 
orang  and  wo-rang,  we  have  endowed  you  with  the 
free-will  power  of  discernment  of  right  and  wrong; 
with  this  example  for  the  proof  of  your  instinctive 
perception  for  the  choice  of  happiness,  guaranteed 
from  self-restraint,  or  certain  misery  incurred  from  a 
transgression  of  creative  laws  bestowed  for  your  direc 
tion  and  protection  in  process  of  higher  attainments. 

"  c  For  Distinction  of  Special  Capability,  the  Orang,  our 
first  individual  creation,  shall  hold  in  reserved  posses 
sion  the  elements  of  theo-ret-ical  surmise  for  the  om 
nivorous  lead  of  soil-besetting  greed,  which,  when 
once  in  the  course  of  development,  from  the  prompt 
ings  of  distempered  lust — beyond  the  reach  of  suffi 
ciency  for  reasonable  contentment-it  shall  prove  to  him 
a  continued  and  never-ending  source  of  misery  and 
unrest,  ever  looking  forward  for  the  material  means  of 
happiness  in  excess  of  his  actual  requirements.  This 
gainful  lack  of  knowledge  you  now  possess,  and  with 
its  negative  inheritance  the  means  of  happy  suspen 
sion  in  the  realms  of  earthly  contentment. 

"  ' In  Reflective  Endowment  we  have  bestowed  for  the 
investment  of  the  Wo-rang,  all  the  kindly  sympathies 
required  for  loving  inspiration  and  solace  ;  also,  within 
her  breast,  the  latent  fount  of  maternal  solicitude, 
which  shall  nourish  a  longing  curiosity  to  know  what 
the  fruit-nut  of  this  reserved  tree  contains,  that,  with 
our  withholding,  grows  heavenward  beyond  their 
reach.  If  she,  of  her  own  free  will,  nourishes 
this  curious,  longing  desire  to  have  her  spouse  pene 
trate  this  secret  which  the  nut  contains,  until  it  be 
comes  a  source  of  discontent,  and  in  search  for  the 
resources  of  attainment,  within  herself,  discovers  the 
means  of  gratification,  then  vanity  with  its  superficial 
train  will  usurp  the  legitimate  birthright  of  happy  con 
tentment.  When  once  the  tide  of  curiosity  has  re 
ceived,  in  flood,  its  gratification,  it  will  ever  after  flow 
and  ebb  with  future  expectation  in  ceaseless  unrest. 
Even  the  labors  of  transgression  will  increase,  in  mul 
tiplication,  the  woful  sorrows,  which,  in  the  lack  of 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  71 


your   acquired  knowledge,  you  could   have   retained, 
while  content  with  your  entailed  powers  of  suspension. 

"'  Given  in  premonition  from  our  holy  Mon-Kee  of 
Foo  Chu,  in  Trinity.' 

" '  PUNISHMENT  OF  OUR  CREATIONS,  A  DAM  AND  MAD-DAM 
ORANG,  FOR  DISOBEDIENCE!  When,  after  the  expiration 
of  forty  days,  we  no  longer  heard  the  blithsome  chat 
ter  and  zetzoon  calls,  or  saw  the  waving  tree  tops,  and 
swaying  limbs  yielding  to  the  merry  hand-chase  of  our 
Orang  and  Wo-rang  creations,  we  called  aloud  "A 
Dam,  Mad-Dam  Orang,  where  art  thou?"  Anon,  we 
heard  faint  voices  from  among  the  bushes  on  the 
ground,  answering  in  the  first  hesitating  tones  of 
tongue-talk:  "  Here,  Lord;  we  did  eat  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  koowledge  thou  denied  us,  and  we  are  tail 
less,  naked  and  ashamed.  But  if  you  will  bear  with 
us  for  a  short  time  we  will  cover  our  deformity  with  a 
substitute  of  vine  leaves,  which  we  are  making;  then 
we  will  appear  before  you  for  reproof  and  forgiveness; 
for  we  know  that  although  a  tartar  you  are  a  merciful 
God  and  slow  to  anger."  When  they  appeared  shame 
faced  and  trembling,  we  asked  in  stern-voiced  inquiry: 
"A-Dam  Orang,  why  didst  thou,  with  a  knowledge  of 
the  penalty,  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit  which  we  placed 
above  thy  own  unaided  reach?  and  who  assisted  thee 
to  obtain  it,  and  taught  thee  how  to  open  the  husk 
and  penetrate  the  eye  of  the  nut  that  contains  the  milk 
and  meat  of  the  coco  ?  " 

"  '  He  answered,  with  downcast  eyes :  ' '  The  wo-rang 
thou  gavest  me  as  a  companion,  tempted  me  with  the 
offer  of  the  fruit,  pronouncing  it  good.  I  yielded  to 
her  seduction  and  did  eat,  and  lo!  as  thou  warned  us, 
the  joyful  means  of  contentment  with  which  thou  didst 
endow  us,  died,  and  separated  from  our  bodies,*  so 
that  we  were  bereft  of  its  support;  also  the  covering 
for  our  bodies  which  Thou  gavest  us  as  a  protection, 
alike  serviceable  in  ward  for  cold  and  heat,  as  well  as  a 
bed  and  guard  from  injury.  But  if,  O  Lord,  Thou 

*  The  milk  and  meat  of  the  cocoa  is  said  to   produce   this 
effect  by  the  Chinese  and  Malays. 


72  INVESTIGATIONS  A  ND  EXPEKIENCE  OF 

wilt  restore  us  whole,  to  the  garden,  our  experience 
will  ever  be  to  us  a  guard  against  future  transgres 
sions,  and  we  shall  ever  pray."  Turning  from  this  au 
dacious  prayer  of  the  forewarned  transgressor,  A-Dam, 
wejjwith  a  stern  face  asked:  "Mad-Dam  Orang,  why 
have  you  disobeyed  the  injunctions  we  gave  you  for 
the  preservation  of  your  happy  contentment  that  af 
forded  you  the  means  of  joyous  elevation  and  a  source 
of  complacent  contemplation,  as  well  as  an  append 
age  for  useful  and  amusing  entertainment  ?"  Then  with 
an  upright  incline  and  apish  modesty,  piquant  with  a 
pretty  air,  half  defiant,  in  pleading  deprecation,  she 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands  and  looked  out  from 
between  her  latticed  fingers  with  such  a  bewitching 
new-born  smile  from  her  jetty  eyes  that  we  trembled 
in  dread,  fearing,  from  counter  temptation,  the  loss  of 
our  own  creative  dignity,  as  the  father  of  this  fallen 
child  of  sin.  With  quick  perception,  for  the  enticing 
practice  of  her  knowledge  inspired  wiles,  she  traced 
the  effect  her  mimic  arts  produced,  then  simperingly  re 
plied:  "  While  we  hung  suspended,  tail  entranced 
from  a  lofty  bough,  viewing  the  wondrous  tree  with  its 
clustered  fruit  beneath  the  waving  expanse  of  its 
broad  leaved  shadows,  we  felt  the  questions  grow 
within  us;  why  does  this  tree  so  far  exceed  the  rest  in 
height,  and  its  leaves  like  branches  from  the  very  top 
spread  outward  and  upward  as  if  to  unite  the  earth 
and  skies?  Or  why  the  fruit  so  unlike  the  rest  in 
form  and  size  and  guarded  so  high  above  our  art  to 
reach,  unless  within  its  husk  the  nut  contains,  with  its 
milk  and  meat,  the  power  to  recreate  us,  with  its 
knowledge  gained,  so  that  from  mid-way  where  we 
hang  tail  suspended,  yet  tenants  of  earth,  our  arms 
may  be  to  pinions  changed  and  our  tails  feathered  to 
guide  us  in  soaring  flight  heavenward,  in  power  exalt 
ed  above  the  birds  of  Paradise  ?  While  thus  we 
mused,  with  covetous  thoughts  inspired,  we  saw  the 
'  apple  serpent'  the  trunk  invest  with  his  tailful  form, 
and  then  with  crest  erect  and  graceful  coils  around  the 
bole,  in  silent  moving  circles  upward  glide  as  if 
with  some  motor  spirit  power,  until  the  head  the  leaf- 
branches  reached;  then  the  circles  closed  and  the  tail 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  73 

around  the  stem  of  the  clustered  nuts  took  firm  hold, 
and  the  head  reversed  in  loop-like  curves  downward 
swung;  but  with  such  retraction;  so  full  of  saving-  grace, 
our  own  tails  and  sprawling  hands  and  feet  dependant 
in  contrast  seemed  uncouth,  and  from  beauty's  curve 
far  removed. 

"  'After  swaying  to  and  fro  in  the  gleaming  sunlight's 
mellow  morning  colors,  as  if  in  reflection  to  gild  his 
own,  our  admiration  with  noise  of  tongue  and  clap 
ping  paws  we  could  not  restrain.  To  these  signals 
of  applause  he  bowed  his  head  with  graceful  curve, 
and  for  a  moment  with  gleaming  eyes  surveyed  us; 
this  ended  with  seeming  satisfaction,  for  with  back 
ward  retracting  corrugations  he  raised  his  crest  to 
our  level,  and,  approaching  near,  he  addressed  me 
thus:  c;  It  is  true  your  God  had  said  unto  you  'Ye 
shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  in  the  garden?'  "  "Of  all,"  I 
answered,  "except  the  tree  of  your  attachment,  we  are 
permitted  to  eat  with  safety;  but  of  that  we  are  neith 
er  to  touch  nor  taste,  nor  with  longing  desire  to  covet 
a  knowledge  of  its  fruitful  savor,  or  in  penalty  for 
disobedience  we  shall  never  more  know  contentment 
and  the  joys  of  our  present  state."  But  the  serpent 
with  a  hissing  sibilation  of  scorn  replied:  "  The  fruit 
ful  part  is  within  a  nut  contained,  and  to  the  sight 
nor  heaven  nor  earth  contains  a  purer  white,  or  the 
sky  a  cerulean  blue  of  a  tint  so  rare  and  slight,  yet 
pervading,  as  the  milk  and  meat  reveal.  To  eat  of  this 
dainty  ambrosial  fare  will  in  likeness  raise  you  above 
your  tree-bound  span,  and  earth's  more  groveling 
mood  of  discontent  and  grubbing  toil  in  search  for 
food,  to  become  as  purely  white  with  heavenly  tint 
and  odorous  blending  as  the  triad  gods  themselves; 
with  omnivorous  power  to  draw  from  choicest  source 
god-sustaining  strength  to  invest  your  soils — in  daily 
test — with  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Hence, 
this  reservation  and  the  fruit's  high  elevation  with  rind 
and  shell  concealment  of  its  god-invigorating  virtues 
to  your  soil's  vitality."  Curious  to  taste  this  necta- 
rian  fruit,  painted  in  glowing  terms  so  rich  and  fair, 
which  would  make  us,  at  will,  tenants  of  earth  or  air; 
4 


74  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

we  sought  to  obtain  from  the  tempter  the  means  of 
gratification,  nor  thought  that  beneath  these  promised 
virtues,  that  did  with  your  restrictions  so  well  com 
pare,  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  would  enslave 
us  in  laboring  want,  and  our  soil  condemn  to  dust, 
the  source  from  whence  your  vitality  raised  it!  Too 
late  we  have  learned  that  credulous  faith  gives  no 
thought  to  the  first  great  cause  evolved  for  the  habit 
control  of  Nature's  laws/ 

"  With  this,  the  wo-rang's  self-accusing  clause, 
uttered  with  modest  grace,  while  the  cocco's  rosy  tint 
suffused  with  cerulean  glow  her  face,  which  with  down 
cast  plea  paled  from  red  to  the  meat's  imparted  white, 
we  turned  aside  our  lowering  brow,  half  inclined  to 
shrive  her,  so  that  with  a  sinless  tail  and  body  free 
from  shame,  she  might  re-enact  the  temptation  scene 
and  plead  her  cause  again.  But  Con-Fuse-Us,  our 
ghostly  guard,  did  with  a  better  plan  infuse  us,  through 
our  triad  son,  who  could  at  some  future  day  by  a  sac 
rificial  act  of  pardoning  grace,  through  a  sinful 
daughter,  save  her  race.  With  this  inspiring  thought, 
we  bade  her  proceed  with  her  relation,  and  no  longer 
plead,  with  knowledge  gained,  hopes  of  restoration  ; 
for  it  would  prove  of  no  avail,  as  she  could,  in  fact, 
show  no  just  cause  why  we  should  repeal  for  her  sake 
nature's  laws  which  were  given  under  seal,  with  the 
premonition  of  levelation,  and  net  with  the  intent  to 
restore  their  tails,  then,  by  an  act  of  regeneration. 
When  she  found  that  her  seductive,  new-born  arts 
would  not  conciliate  or  re-adjust  the  parts  of  her  lost 
estate,  in  forgetful  pique  she  gave  a  disdainful  flirt,  as 
if  to  whisk  as  of  yore,  the  tailful  skirt  in  scorn.  But 
when  she  felt  the  impression  still  retained,  while  of 
the  tailful  fact  she  was  maimed,  with  a  desponding 
look  forlorn,  the  gathering  mists  from  out  her  eyes 
with  pleading  tears  for  succor,  our  justice  in  remorse 
ful  spirit  again  decries.  To  break  this  spell,  by  which 
from  new-fledged  vanity  she  hoped  to  regain  her  loss 
and  still  retain  the  privileged  fruit  of  her  transgres 
sion,  we  bade  her  cease  to  give  expression  to  the  sen 
sual  snares  begot  from  the  knowledge  of  her  nature's 
change  ;  that  gave  to  her  labors  a  material  birth  and 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  75 

wider  range  from  which  to  draw  in  ceaseless  round  a 
phantom  source  of  gratification  from  the  ground  ! 
Thus  urged  to  a  full  and  quick  confession,  she  said 
that,  '  from  their  tails  they  had  derived  such  con 
stant  source  of  pleasure  and  contentment  as  they 
hung  suspended,  with  their  hands  and  feet  at  leisure, 
the  apple-serpent's  long  endowment  with  naught  but 
head  and  tip,  with  tail  between,  argued  an  immortal 
source  of  treasure  in  god-like  wisdom's  vision,  that 
could  see  the  source  and  end,  and  destiny  avert  by 
reversing  or  joining  the  extremities,  to  counteract  ad 
verse  measures.  Then  his  gliding,  noiseless  motive 
power3  in  contrast  with  their  vulgar  motions,  betrayed 
a  higher  source  of  inspiration  than  theirs,  derived  from 
constant  inflation.  But  it  was  his  higher  powers  of 
reach  that  afforded  them  the  fruitful  gratification,  and 
added  to  their  knowledge  the  mortal  source  of  good 
and  evil  which  caused  their  fall  and  the  loss  of  their 
rebellious  tails  ;  while  to  him  was  still  extended  the 
power  of  reach,  to  inflict  continued  woe/  Yet  all  her 
talk,  as  if  in  innocent  lack  of  thought,  avoided  the 
truthful  revelation  of  the  method  plan  devised  to  ob 
tain  the  coveted  prize.  This  tergiversation,  in  speech, 
of  our  experimental  creation,  on  the  day  she  her 
knowledge  gained,  did  by  far  exceed  our  plan  pro 
posed,  and  prognosed  a  result  by  no  means  pleasing  ; 
as  we  had  hoped  to  raise  upon  her  grateful  repentance 
a  permanent  foundation  for  growth  in  goodness  and 
final  regeneration  from  the  body's  sinful  soil. 

"  With  our  Tar- tar  privilege  of  god-like  foreordina- 
tion,  we  foresaw  from  this  endowment  of  our  terra- 
filia  creation  with  the  powers  of  speech,  a  pandemo 
nium  source  of  discord  among  the  descendants  of  her 
offspring,  begot  from  the  surreptitious  knowledge  ob 
tained  from  eating  the  forbidden  fruit.  In  result  we 
could  clearly  discern  in  near  and  far-off  degeneration, 
from  the  source  of  temptation,  its  perversion  in  a  de 
gree  sufficient  to  baffle  the  understanding  of  the 
speaker's  intelligence  for  direction. 

"  This  would  inaugurate,  in  hellish  devisement,  re 
prisal,  which  would  in  itself  multiply  the  sources  of 
deceitful  dissimulation,  until  truth,  the  source  of  con- 


76  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

fidence  and  contentment,  would  give  place  to  experi 
mental  surmise  and  vague  conjecture,  under  the  rul 
ing  lead  of  preaching,  legal,  and  medical  interpreta 
tion,  for  the  final  involvement  of  the  living  soul  with  its 
inanimate  source  of  original  derivation.  Baffled  and 
puzzled  with  our  own  creation,  we  held  council  with 
ourselves,  how  we  might  compass  our  design  and  gain 
from  her  the  means  employed  by  our  counter-power, 
the  Serpent,  to  gloss  the  penalty  of  our  premonition; 
which  had  forewarned  them,  not  only  of  the  loss  of 
their  happy  member  for  suspension,  with  head  and 
feet  dependent,  alike  free  from  anxious  care  and 
thought  for  food  supplies,  but  of  the  never-ending  ills 
that  would  in  quick  succession  glow  from  all  their 
after  acts  with  mingled  hope  and  woe.  Noting  that 
our  thoughtful  silence  which  frowning  shadows  cast, 
blanched  her  face  with  superstitious  gloom,  in  dread 
of  some  speedy  doom,  we  aroused  our  demon  of  des 
pair,  who  with  hideous  groans  in  monsoon  tempest 
filled  the  air,  and  while  the  garden  trees  were  bend 
ing  and  swaying  to  the  furor  of  this  gale-exceeding 
breeze,  in  whirlpool  vortex  the  tempting  toddy  cocco 
was  caught,  and  borne  aloft  by  its  spreading  top,  and 
from  out  the  garden  thrown. 

"  With  such  remorse  as  fear  begets,  she  now,  with 
pallor  wrought,  essayed  to  speak  in  prayer,  'that  we 
would  stay  this  fearful  storm,  and  listen  to  her  con 
fession  of  the  ways  and  means  of  their  transgression; 
and  if  repentance  could  in  aught  avail  to  annul  the 
penalty,  and  restore  them  from  knowledge  free  to 
their  former  tailful  state  of  blissful  suspension,  in 
which  joyous  mirth  gave  no  thought  to  cause  and  ef 
fect,  and  their  prevention,  it  should  be  sincere,  and 
without  reserve  for  temptation's  curious  provocation/ 

"  But  between  ourselves,  in  consultation,  we  duly  con 
sidered  all  the  pros  and  cons,  and,  after  due  investiga 
tion  of  the  schedule  regulations  of  our  primal  orders 
and  plans  for  material  and  spiritual  organizations;  we 
at  once  decided  that  there  could  be  no  revocations; 
else  our  omniscient  power,  with  that  of  fore-ordina 
tion,  would  with  justice  clash  if  arraigned  to  answer 
why,  with  intention;  if  created  goodness  was  our 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATKA.  77 

desire,  in  perfection,  we  interposed  this  certain  inter 
diction  to  mar  and  dispossess  the  highest  of  our  crea 
tions  of  a  happy  birthright,  with  which,  if  it  had  been 
our  pleasure,  we  could  have  endowed  them  in  perpet 
uity.  But  as  our  jocose  intention  was  to  test  our  triad 
father's  free-will  invention  for  investing  his  created 
subjects  with  attributes  and  powers  for  rival  conten 
tion  in  provoking  evil,  for  evil  prevention,  we  were 
thankful  that  the  wo-rang  assumed  the  leading  part, 
and  yielded  to  the  bait  of  our  temptation  at  the  start. 
To  decide  our  '  doubts'  whether  the  wo-rang  offered 
the  tempting  toddy  to  her  orang  mate,  in  the  spirit  of 
kindly  preference,  that  its  zest  might  with  his  taste  en 
hance  her  own;  or  whether  from  the  fear  of  evil  she 
essayed  his  body's  test  to  save  her  own,  we  again 
waked  the  echoes  with  windy  throes  that  wildly 
through  the  garden  moaned.  With  this  summons  she 
forgot  her  new  gained  art  discretion,  and  straightway, 
of  her  own  weakness  and  the  Serpent's  guile,  made 
quick  confession: 

"  '  The  Serpent,  whose  tailful  body's  soil  we  so  much 
admired,  with  its  vital  powers  of  reach,  so  much  above 
our  own,  urged  me  to  taste  the  nectar  from  the  cocco's 
flowers,  if  I  would  myself  procreate,  as  with  thee, 
who  from  yourselves  procreated  me.  To  gain  this 
meed — that  would  place  me  above  restriction's  limita 
tion,  and  make  me  a  goddess,  with  angelic  attributes, 
self-conferred,  and  independent  of  your  power,  with 
the  wish  to  see  myself  reflected  in  soil-likeness,  as  we 
reflect  your  own — I  submitted  myself  to  his  wisdom's 
direction,  and  with  my  husband's  hands  formed  from 
plastic  clay  a  "  chattee,"  or  vessel,  and,  when  sun-dried, 
from  grass  he  twisted  a  cord,  and  with  it  was  taught 
to  ascend  the  tree,  and  from  the  bruised  and  punc 
tured  flower-stem  to  catch  the  flow  of  sap-toddee. 
This,  when  sun-distilled,  I  offered  him,  and  when  he 
drank  he  became  soon  inspired  with  a  god-like  power, 
and  free  from  dread  and  retribution.  Sap-headed,  he 
no  longer  feared  to  break  the  nut  and  taste  the  milk 
and  meat.  And  then  we  fell  asleep;  but  when  we 
awoke  from  thirst  and  pain,  we  found  ourselves  dis 
arrayed  and  tailless.  To  shield  us  from  heat  of  day 


78  INVESTIGATIONS   t$T>   EXPERIENCE   OF 


and  night's  damp  chills,  we  a  boothie  framed  in  the 
bush.  Then,  to)  late!  we  felt  our  helpless  fate,  and 
that  knowledge,  gained  of  nature's  laws  beyond  our 
wants,  did  but  prove  a  source  of  growing  discontent, 
as  they  begat,  from  taste  and  habit,  effects  that  craved 
for  more,  or  something  to  allay  the  stomach's  discord 
ant  throes;  but  whether  our  choice  might  prove  for 
good  or  evil,  we  could  not  tell  until  weal  or  woe  were 
felt.  Even  experience  we  could  see;  would  serve  as 
naught,  for  changing  ourselves  from  the  continued 
variations  wrought.  Now  forlorn,  we  are  penitent; 
not  alone,  because  in  transgression  we  have  been 
caught,  but  from  fear  that  our  sins  will  multiply  with 
out  end,  and  in  procreation  produce  such  soil  deterior 
ation  that  the  creative  source  from  which  we  sprang 
will  disdain,  in  restoration,  assimilation,  and  the 
heavenly  rites  of  regeneration.  But  if  we  have  sinned 
away  the  day  of  grace  beyond  the  hope  of  salvation,  it 
•would  please  me  to  know  —  if  to  that  reach  our  knowl 
edge  may  extend  ?  how  the  milk  of  the  cocco,  so  white, 
yet  tinged  with  cerulian,  and  sweetly  pure,  could  enter 
within  the  husk,  shell,  and  meat  of  a  nut  so  secure  ?' 

"  We  discovered  in  this  question  the  Serpent's  wiles, 
through  which  he  sought  to  learn  the  vital  source,  and 
how  it  was  infused  within  the  soil's  mortality,  and 
raised  independent  of  its  birth  to  live  forever  in  the 
immortal  realms  of  light,  so  that  he  might  evade  our 
just  decrees  of  fore-ordination,  which  favor  wrong, 
with  temptations  devised  to  surprise  the  sensual  lusts 
from  contentment's  rightful  trust. 

"  '  Why  we  favor  wrong  if  we  would  be  just  is  that  the 
good,  who  will  ever  be  very  few,  should  in  persistent 
right  their  strength  renew,  and  with  thought  trace  the 
cause  within  themselves  for  the  rule  of  happy  laws. 
If  we  had  created  you  without  this  self-restraining 
clause  our  work  would  have  had  but  little  zest,  for  you 
would  have  been  good,  without  knowing  that  wrong 
existed;  hence  the  test. 

"  '  But  for  the  serpent's  part,  who  so  vilely,  with  wis 
dom's  pretence,  persuaded  you  that  surreptitious 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  gained  against  our  ex 
press  command,  would  raise  you  to  become  gods,  with 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  79 

power  to  reject,  without  our  special  intervention,  the 
wrong  you  obtained  at  the  cost  of  act  defiance  against 
our  sacred  injunction;  we  sentence  him  and  his  to  bite 
the  dust  of  your  mortality,  and  to  become  your  mor 
tal  foe  and  source  of  dread  for  the  infliction  of  deadly 
poisoned  pang  for  dissolving  in  corruption  your  mortal 
soils  from  the  vital  moving  cause,  that  we  bestowed  in 
proof  of  our  immortal  source. 

"  '  A  writhing  object  of  groveling  meanness  and  in 
sidious  hate,  to  be  crushed  and  mangled  shall  be  his 
fate,  and  of  all  the  beasts  and  reptiles  of  our  creation 
speechless,  he  shall  become  the  sum  for  the  strongest 
expression  of  aversion  known  to  your  continued  state 
under  the  rule  of  mind  which  will  signalize  your  pro 
gressive  existence  and  decline  under  the  style  of  man 
kind. 

"  'For  your  heedless  lack  of  thought,  forewarned  by  our 
express  premonition,  we  shall  doom  you  to  constant 
self-delusion,  disease,  and  faith  for  continued  repeti 
tion;  and  for  your  perverse  self-inflicted  woe,  your 
race  shall  ever,  in  phantom  chase,  leave  certain  good 
to  engage  with  an  evil  foe,  who  will  lure  you  with 
faith  expectation  to  win  a  higher  prize  which  your  own 
experience  with  proof  denies.  This  will  give  birth  to 
folly's  invention,  for  folly's  prevention,  until  ceremo 
nial  rites  and  shadows  shall  so  engross  all  your  pro 
geny's  thoughts  that  our  affectionate  endowment  for 
immortal  realization  will  be  lost  in  vague  surmise, 
which  will  render  you  subject  to  mechanical  resource 
for  pleasure,  that  will  prove  as  ephemeral  and  illusive 
in  effect  as  the  substances  employed  are  enduring. 
These  in  turn  will  engender  more  active  miseries  from 
heedless  greed  and  indiscretion  begot  from  vanity, 
envy,  and  hate.  In  memorial  evidence  of  the  cause 
and  justness  of  your  doom  and  transition  from  a  joyous 
state  of  suspension  to  a  biped  walking  creature  of 
earthly  progression,  your  progeny  will  be  condemned 
to  cultivate  an  artificial  tail  dependant  in  attachment 
from  the  crown  hairs  of  your  head,  in  significant  token 
of  the  change  wrought  from  the  loss  of  your  happy 
birthright,  which  afforded  amusement  and  pleasure  in 
freedom  from  the  harassing  thoughts  which  will  now 


80  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

and   from   henceforward    hold   you   spell-bound  with 
anxious  care. 

"  'Notwithstanding  your  curtailed  condition,  which 
deprives  you  and  yours  in  perpetuity  of  the  actual  re 
alization  of  caudalistic  enjoyments,  you  and  they  will 
be  constantly  subject  to  memorial  impressions  of  your 
lost  condition,  and  with  repentant  tears  your  race  will 
seek  in  prayer  for  hopeful  evidences  of  regeneration 
within  themselves  from  material  rites  and  ceremonies 
administered  by  priestly  intercessors;  who  will  offer  an 
assurance  for  the  renewed  grace  of  tail  restoration 
through  the  alleged  mysterious  efficacy  of  their  own 
recaudalized  supplications.  While  your  race  multi 
plies,  subject  to  the  laboring  penalty  of  their  earth- 
born  condition,  their  soils  will  long  for  a  millenium 
state  of  reconversion;  and  although  divided  in  wordy 
opinions  as  to  most  efficacious  means  of  attainment, 
all  will  concur  in  reverential  devotion  to  memorial 
habits  and  customs  sacred  to  your  sinless  state  of  cau- 
dality  in  the  celestial  garden  of  Fun-Choo-Foo-Mont- 
Kee-Orang.  The  offshoot  generations  from  your  ce 
lestial  stock,  although  adhering  to  the  impressions  of 
a  sinless  tail,  will,  with  wicked  perversion,  disregard 
the  memorial  attachment  of  its  symbolical  substitute 
to  the  crown  of  the  head,  and  in  deviation  from  the 
functional  attributes  implied  in  its  reversion  will  en 
deavor  to  eke  out  with  artificial  means  sinless  medita 
tions  from  the  local  source  of  its  original  attachment. 
But  these  perverse  generations  will  but  add  a  fruitful 
source  of  woe  to  their  soils'  sinful  accumulations  with 
a  garnered  return  of  increased  deterioration  in  wor 
shipful  reverence,  which  will  in  prone  tendency  lead 
them  to  bow  down  in  stables  and  stalls  for  the  savior 
intercession  of  the  soil's  purity  in  an  ante-created  state 
of  devitalized  humanity;  until,  in  the  course  of  natural 
degradation,  the  names  of  Orang  and  Wo-rang,  in  de 
signation  of  their  sinless  state  of  happy  purity,  shall 
become  a  byword,  and  in  substitution  they  will  be 
known  as  O-man  and  Wo-man.' 

"  Given  in  sentence  by  Our  Triad  U-Nighty,  from  Our 
Holy  Mont-Kee,  Fu-Chu,  in  the  Garden  of  Fun- 
Choo-Foo;  Joss-hua,  Con-Fuse-Us  and  Son." 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  81 

AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THIS  CHATA  (discourse)  rendition  of 
the  Chinese  sacred  scripture  record  of  their  triad  god's 
creation  of  man's  progenitorial  antecedents,  the  doc 
tor  stated  that  they  had  been  advised  to  this  method 
of  procedure  to  avoid  the  many  interruptive  inquiries 
which  would  be  suggested  from  allusions  in  the  course 
of  their  initiatory  conversations.  "  The  inference  we 
wish  to  have  you  draw  from  these  chata  relations — 
with  which  we  shall  advise  you  of  our  real  and  well- 
sustained  belief  in  all  the  essentials  necessary  for  an 
understanding  direction — is  that  the  records  which 
have  been  invested  with  the  mysteries  of  a  pretended 
creative  source  have  undoubtedly  a  reference  to  a 
transition  period  of  incaudalization  in  kindred  affinity 
to  the  tadpole  transformation.  If  you  have  not 
already  discovered  that  all  the  ancient  book  records  are 
traditions  invested  with  mysteries  by  priestcraft  in 
similitude  with  those  heralding  from  the  church  mon 
asteries  of  the  middle  ages  miracles  effected  by  the 
soil  relics  of  humanity;  a  review  of  incidents  which 
have  transpired  in  the  progress  of  your  past  life  that 
have  been  subjected  to  the  recording  agency  of  a  his 
torian's  pen,  will  convince  you  of  the  utter  unreliabil 
ity  of  those  emanating  from  a  remote  period;  when 
events  were  transmitted  by  vocal  rehearsals  and  ritual 
enactments  of  priests  whose  manifest  intention  was  to 
raise  themselves  to  become  objects  of  reverenlial  awe 
by  the  ceremonious  concealment  of  truth.  Or,  in  apt 
illustration  of  the  inconsistencies  transmitted  through 
the  recording  agency  of  the  pen,  you  can  refer  your 
thoughts  to  the  re-enactments  of  Indian  mythological 
customs  and  habits  by  your  enlightened  civilized 
white  and  red  men's  lodges,  Druids,  and  the  thousand 
and  one  similar  catch  re-inventions  designed  to  gather  in 
partisan  sectarian  herds  of  superstitious  and  glitter-at 
tracted  crowds  of  sensually  delighted  devotees;  who 
with  groveling  servility  humbly  submit  themselves  to 
the  selfish  direction  of  marnmonized  leaders.  In  dem 
onstration  of  the  life-sacrificing  infatuation  of  these 
sensual  illusionists  who  covet  the  gazing  applause  of 
creed-inspiring  public  opinion,  you  can  take  your  ex- 


82  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

amples  from  the  self-immolating  Hindoo  devotees,  or 
the  monastic  Saint  Simons,  the  soldiers  of  all  ages,  and 
the  gluttonized  drunkard  whose  habits  of  genial  socia 
bility  render  him  imbecile  for  self-entertainment  and 
approval;  laying  the  foundation  for  continued  deteri 
oration  and  degradation  of  their  kind  in  an  increasing 
series  to  a  vitalized  insanity  or  clod  extinction  of  the 
realities  of  healthy  enjoyment. 

"You  must  not  think  that  it  is  our  desire's  wish  to 
cast  the  slightest  shadow  of  a  doubt  upon  the  recorded 
statement  of  truth,, that  will  bear  the  test  of  reason's 
light,  which  has  been  bestowed  for  legitimate  discern 
ment  by  creative  endowment!     For  it  is  a  self-evident 
axiom,  that  truth   will   vindicate   itself    more    clearly 
from  investigation !     Equally  self-evident,  is  the  fact, 
that   fanaticism  and   bigotry   are   tragic     absurdities 
founded  upon  superstition;  and  by  birth  are   in   twin 
alliance  with  religion,   and  have  proved   the   greatest 
curse  that  was  ever  patronized   by   human   stupidity. 
Our  reverence  for  the  Creator  is  unspeakable,  with  the 
firm  conviction  that  he  has  bestowed  upon  his  creatures 
their  relative  means  of  happiness;  and  in  the  superior 
endowment  of  humanity  has   opened   a   vista   for   the 
clear  perception  and  realization  of  an  earthly  premon 
ition   of  immortality;     but,    has   made   its  impression 
optional  with  the  cultivated  desires  of  the  probationary 
state  of  the  animus  while  subject   tenant   to  the  soil's 
mortality.     We  use  the  word  soil  as  an  equivalent  for 
its  derivative  'soul',  adopted   in   reversion   for   mystic 
expression  by  creed  clevisement,  and  by  the  religiously 
impressed  sybarite  for  the  exquisite  word  demonstra 
tion  of  a  '  feast  of  reason  and  stomach  flow   of  soul.' 
We  hope  that  your  sojourn  with  us  will   lead   you    to 
participate  in  the  reality  of  our  joys,  and   in   contrast 
feel  and  see  the  absurdity  of  the  mechanical  efforts  of 
civilization  to  effect  a  happy    source   of   regeneration. 
Society  association,  with  us,  is   the   garden   of  recip 
rocation,  in  which  the  night  dews  of  solitary   thought 
are  distributed  for  congenial  nourishment,  and  piquant 
repartee,  for  the  animus  stimulation  of  our  soil's  vital 
ity;  with,  peradventure,  a  kindly  reach  in  foretaste  of 
immortality.     So,  that,  if,  at  times,  you  find  us  self-en- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  83 

grossed  with  our  own  communings,  you  must  not  take 
our  silence  amiss,  for  in  our  garden  chatas  we  shall 
endeavor  to  disburthen  our  thoughts  of  whatever  we 
may  have  gleaned  worthy  of  affording  instructive 
amusement,  or  mutual  improvement  for  exampled  ex 
tension.  With  this  introductory  prologue,  in  expla 
nation  of  our  hospitality's  bias,  we  will  subject  you  to 
your  own  control,  in  freedom  from  ceremonial  con 
formity  to  any  and  everything  in  habit  and  custom 
likely  to  prove  uncongenial  to  vour  preference." 


The  Musical  Vesper  Entertainment  of  the  Holm  was 
opened  by  an  orchestra  numbering  eighty-odd  per 
formers,  but  was  varied  according  to  the  requirements 
of  the  compositions  rendered.  But  to  my  unedu 
cated  ear,  there  was  a  nearer  approach  to  unity  in 
harmony  than  I  had  ever  imagined  possible  in  attain 
ment  by  instrumental  amateurs,  and  was  surprised  to 
learn  that  some  of  the  best  performers  were,  in  the 
language  of  Kan  Avan,  "native  gentlemen,"  in  a  full 
and  inexpensive  suit  of  nature's  uniform.  Mrs.  Les 
lie  first  noticing  my  astonishment  from  seeing  these 
perched  in  various  attitudes  on  the  limbs  and  branches 
of  the  marsang  trees,  informed  me  that  the  Badda 
and  Kubu  Orangs,  like  the  African  descendants  of  the 
Gorilla  Baboons,  exhibited  a  strong  natural  taste  for 
instrumental  music,  and  a  quick  ear  for  detecting  and 
imitating  the  variations  of  sound.  "  But  as  they  were 
less  superstitious  than  their  African  cousins,  and  more 
energetically  independent  of  the  shackles  of  servi 
tude,  their  melodies  and  minstrelsy  were  free  from  the 
Methodist  taint  of  howling  lamentations,  and  semi- 
jovial  and  pathetic  warnings  against  the  dangers  of 
hell's  scorching  heat.  Yet  they  retained  as  perfect 
an  hereditary  impression  of  the  unalloyed  joys  of 
their  sinless  state  of  suspension  as  the  most  exalted 
high  ritualists  and  Puseyites  of  the  church  of  Eng 
land,  and  showed  their  preference  and  hopes  of  re 
generation,  by  selecting  the  limbs  and  branches  of 
their  original  inheritance  for  giving  voice  to  their 
jubilates.  Although  not  as  proficient  in  word  vocal- 


84  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

ization  as  the  parrots,  and  their  African  cousins  in 
speech  enunciation,  still,  as  I  had  already  discovered, 
they  were  not  deficient  in  giving  expression  to  the  true 
pathos  of  harmony  in  musical  attainment ;  and  the 
proof  of  its  real  existence  in  association,  as  I  would 
also  learn  when  I  became  more  intimately  acquainted 
with  their  habits  and  customs  from  the  interpretation 
of  the  initiated  ;  notwithstanding  their  pertinacious 
adherence  to  the  caste  distinctions  denoted  by  gra 
dations  distinguished  by  the  length  of  the  tail  and 
reverence  for  its  relative  proportions  as  an  original 
endowment  of  redeeming  grace. 

"  From  this  material  insignia — derived  in  genealogi 
cal  succession  from  a  sinless  date,  anterior  to  that  of 
the  apple  tree  of  knowledge,  from  which,  or  in  ap 
proach  to,  our  civilized  heralds  of  nobility  trace  their 
family  distinctions — the  Gibbons  hold  themselves 
aloof  from  the  apostate  generations  of  the  Kubu-Bad- 
das,  and  harbor  against  the  Troglodytes  utter  abhor- 
ence,  while  for  our  race  they  show  a  dependant  reli 
ance  from  our  higher  appreciation  of  the  redeeming 
grace,  derived  from  their  sinless  state,  favored  by  the 
transition  privileges  of  the  tail  to  the  head  as  the  pen 
alty  of  disobedience.  Their  claims  for  sinless  exemp 
tion  were  derived  from  the  Hindoo  God,  who  created 
India,  the  Eden  of  the  Mont-kee  Orang,  or  the  un 
abridged  race  of  the  Holy,  who  retained  in  prehensile 
purity  their  hold  on  faith  by  having  their  garden  loca 
ted  in  the  Himalaya  above  the  altitude  indigenous  for 
the  growth  of  the  coco  or  hybrid  source  of  human 
woe." 

Mrs.  Leslie's  first  distinctive  illustration  was  here 
interrupted  by  a  serpent  solo,  played  by  a  Badda  in 
strumentalist  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  Baptist  re 
frain,  in  what  they  dissentingly  style  the  '  hard-shell 
key.'  '  Oh  there  will  be  mourning!'  which  was  sung  in 
lugubrious  drawling  tones  by  a  redeemed  convert  who 
had  been  subjected  from  early  infancy  to  conference 
association  with  the  Kubu  sect.  This  reminded  me, 
with  its  ludicrous  pathos,  so  strongly  of  the  sectarian 
training  of  my  youth  for  a  certain  hell,  and  doubly 
doubtful  heaven,  that  I  could  not  withhold  a  grateful 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  85 

smile  in  thankful  praise  for  my  emancipation  from  the 
thraldom  of  sects  whose  soils  had  become  so  impreg 
nated  with  the  hereditary  taint  of  earth  that  the  regen 
erating  impression  of  a  tail  had  become  an  outward 
form  of  ritual  observance  without  the  sanctifying  in 
fluence  imparted  by  the  Chinese  memorial  to  the  head. 


At  nine  o'clock  they  rendered  the  echo  song  of 
"Repose,"  and  at  its  close  the  parting  salutation  of 
"  Good  night,"  but  on  retiring  to  my  cottage  I  found 
myself  so  involved  with  the  strange  impressions  of  the 
day  that  I  wooed  sleep  in  vain.  Even  a  bul-bul  who 
had  perched  in  the  aromatic  spice-yielding  sooin-tra 
beneath  the  lattice  screen  of  my  bed- room  window, 
failed  with  his  varied  warblings  in  song  to  lull  me  from 
the  exciting  freaks  of  imagination  that  followed  in 
train  from  the  actual  personations  and  varied  rehear 
sals  of  the  day,  which  appeared,  in  the  silence  of 
night  reflections,  to  be  conjurations  in  panoramic  re- 
enactment  of  the  world's  creation.  The  hour  chimes 
of  the  house  clock  had  harmonized  the  lapse  of  the 
fourth  division  of  a  new  day  into  the  records  of  the 
past  before  my  eyes  closed  in  drowsy  relief  from  the 
fantastic  visions  of  my  wakeful  spell;  even  then  its 
extreme  unction  seemed  to  be  invoked  and  resolved 
into  sleep  by  an  adaptation  so  peculiar  to  the  helpless 
confusion  of  my  instinctive  impulses  of  thought  that  I 
appeared  to  be  wafted  by  the  magic  influence  of  con 
genial  sympathy  from  the  fettered  unrest  of  mortal 
ity.  The  song  came  from  the  latticed  wdndow  of  a 
neighboring  cottage,  and  was  timed  to  the  soft  and 
mellow  music  of  a  gourd  guitar  (Di-ree-throm-boo)  in 
the  long  Samboyan  measure  of  the  Malayan  Arab 
minstrel.  The  English  equivalent  that  I  give  was 
from  the  translation  of  Mrs.  Leslie  third: 


"Sleep,  sleep!  though  far  from  your  kindred,  we  hold  you  as  dear; 
For  in  spirit,  we  cherish  the  good,  distant  or  near; 
And  your  doubts,  and  your  fears,  as  with  the  mists  of  the  earth, 
Kise,  with  the  shadows  of  night,  from  the  soil  source  of  birth. 


86  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  Secure  from  the  world's  phantoms,  we  still  cherish  the  fire, 
And  its  type,  the  sun,  to  purify  va^ue  desire, 

AVhich.with  the  taint  of  our  soil's  weight,  restrains  us  from  flight, 
And  holds  us,  earth  bound,  to  the  changes  of  day  and  night. 

"  But,  with  calm  patience  and  thought,  you  will  no  longer  dream, 
That  will-o'-wisp  rites  will  make  you  other  than  you  seem, 
For  if  in  spirit,  you  would  your  earthly  body  save, 
United,  they  must  be  consigned  to  a  common  grave. 

"  But,  if,  in  our  direction,  you  will  place  your  sole  trust; 
As  with  our  own,  your  spirit  will  claim  freedom  from  lust, 
And  though  held  by  the  vital,  a  tenant  you  remain. 
Its  sev'rauce  from  the  body,  will  free  you  from  the  chain." 


My  Second  Day's  Impressions  as  a  Guest  of  the  Holm 
Residents  were  ushered  in  train  from  the  half-walung 
vision,  invoked  from  the  musical  placebo  that  had 
calmed  my  perturbed  spirits  to  rest,  with  the  sequel  of 
a  full  hour's  refreshing  sleep.  On  rising  and  looking 
eastward  from  my  verandah,  the  sun's  beams  were 
glancing  upward  above  the  Saar  Soong  range  of 
mountains,  with  a  rich  effulgence  that  imparted  to  me 
a  glow  of  elation  such  as  I  had  never  felt  before;  and 
as  I  caught  the  first  glimpse  of  its  broad  disk  as  it  rose 
from  the  peak's  shadows,  the  air  became  vocal  with  a 
hymn  of  salutation  that  resounded  from  within  and 
without  the  enclosure  in  answering  strains  of  joyful 
response.  In  correspondence,  each  face  beamed  upon 
me  such  glad  rays  of  affection  that  I  felt  within  my 
self  a  dearth  of  power  for  reciprocal  expression,  al 
though  inspired  to  my  full  capacity  by  the  genial 
warmth  that  in  continual  flow  opened  to  me  a  current 
of  exchange  hitherto  unknown  to  my  spirit  of  calcu 
lation.  Indeed,  with  the  energy  of  a  newly  discovered 
animus  that  was  to  me  an  endowment  beyond  expres 
sion,  alluring  in  joyful  attractions  and  freedom  from 
the  taint  of  self,  I  felt  as  if  translated  from  my  body's 
"soil,"  with  herald  impression  to  the  extatic  realms  of 
affection's  sole  embodiment;  and  realized  with  the 
novice  capacity  of  my  nature,  a  foretaste  in  premo 
nition,  sacred  to  my  conceptions  of  probationary  re 
sponsibility  for  the  perception  of  an  immortal  state  of 


. 

M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  .  87 

kindred  beatitude.  The  nodding  smiles  of  recog 
nition  imparted  to  me  such  a  zest  of  pleasure  in  salu 
tation  that  memory's  recall,  in  contrast  of  the  cold, 
calculating  "good  morning!  how  d'ye  do  ?"  accom 
paniments  of  clammy  hand-shaking,  with  the  im 
pression  of  saurian  sympathy,  caused  a  cold  shudder 
in  revolt  from  the  "  Christian  charities  "  of  ritualistic 
exchange  common  to  the  bourse  intercourse  in  congre 
gation  of  "  civilized  ''  humanity.  An  elephant  jaunt, 
with  an  overseer,  to  a  lower  plateau  plantation,  before 
the  breakfast  hour,  opened  to  me  a  new  vista  of  har 
monized  labor  for  the  expression  of  natural  capacity, 
in  accordance  with  creative  indications.  Also,  the 
skillful  adaptation  of  inventive  ingenuity  to  relieve 
labor  of  its  onerous  and  soil- accumulating  predispo 
sition,  that  renders  work,  in  common  acceptation,  not 
only  a  task  but  repugnant  to  cleanly  inclination.  This 
preventive  foresight,  for  the  avoidance  of  disagreeable 
tendencies,  I  observed  as  a  prevailing  influence  that 
from  example  had  extended  itself  for  self-correction 
through  all  the  varied  gradations  of  animal  life  ; 
which  demonstrated  to  my  perception  the  kindred  ca 
pacity  of  instinct  in  a  new  and  wonderfully  agreeable 
light.  The  reach  of  this  silent  power  of  example 
seemed  to  be  illimitable,  and  in  influence  exceeded  the 
powers  of  speech,  as  well  as  in  the  sincerity  of  ex 
pression. 

At  the  breakfast  table,  with  desire,  beyond  the 
power  of  thankful  word  expression,  I  conveyed  my 
feelings,  with  an  innate  perception  of  intelligent  com 
prehension  to  all,  while  communing  with  the  current 
flow  that  seemed  to  question  the  extent  of  my  devel 
oped  resources  for  silent  enjoyment.  In  answer  to  a 
look  of  inquiry  directed  to  Mrs.  Leslie,  third,  I  was 
advised,  that  they  had  tried,  with  constantly  increas 
ing  success,  to  reduce  the  limits  of  speech  to  exact  ex 
pression,  for  the  demonstration  of  mechanical  inform 
ation,  and  the  more  extended  reach  of  harmony;  and 
that  in  my  spirit  of  investigation  1  would  be  called 
upon  to  recognize  this  source  and  means  of  commun 
ion,  in  a  sub-degree  of  attainment,  as  an  instinctive 
method  of  communication  with  the  lower  orders  of 


88  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

animality.  At  the  close  of  the  meal,  she  advised  me 
to  take  advantage  of  the  remaining  cool  hours  of  the 
morning  to  acquaint  myself,  under  my  own  direction, 
with  the  accustomed  avocations  cultivated  as  useful 
pasa  tiempos,  by  the  active  residents  of  the  estate; 
that  I  might  be  prepared  to  judge  of  their  improved 
resources  for  the  attainment  of  a  realizing  perception 
of  the  means  of  happy  reciprocation.  In  compliance 
with  her  request,  I  commenced  the  round  of  investi 
gation,  with  an  inspection  of  the  order  and  working 
economy  of  the  home  enclosure .  My  progress  was 
encouraged  with  an  understanding  illustration  of  the 
common  tendency  of  vocation  for  an  equalization  of 
the  responsibilities  of  associate  welfare;  and  with  an 
approach  so  near  to  perfection,  that  instead  of  labor, 
and  uncleanly  attaint,  amusement  and  conservative 
purity  appeared  to  be  the  object  and  prize  of  success 
ful  attainment.  As  if  recognized  as  a  stranger,  from 
my  sauntering  inspection  of  the  employment  of  others, 
a  soong-tee  thrush  soon  made  me  aware  of  his  atten 
tive  desire  to  afford  me  entertainment,  and  cheer  my 
lonely  lack  of  active  occupation  with  the  melodious 
inspirations  of  his  sweetest  notes.  From  branch,  bush, 
and  spray  he  cheered  with  song  my  steps,  and  at  my 
call  he  would,  without  hesitation,  accept  my  offered 
hand  for  a  perch,  and  allow  me  with  evident  pleasure 
to  plume  his  feathers;  and  when  I  endeavored  to  con 
ceal  myself  from  his  view,  he  showed  from  his  prying 
search,  and  elation,  an  apt  appreciation  for  the  game 
of  hide  and  seek.  When,  for  a  more  exciting  hunt,  he 
would  linger  in  apparent  indifference  chanting  his  lay, 
with  warbling  carols,  as  an  interlude  to  his  more 
earnest  measure,  I  could  catch  his  eyes  watching  my 
movements  in  sidelong  askance  to  the  swaying  changes 
of  perch;  or  from  behind  a  tufted  twig,  until  my 
whistled  call  announced  the  full  security  of  my  fan 
cied  place  of  concealment.  Then  with  a  switt  and 
earnest  wing  flight,  he  would  seek  the  cover,  and  hop 
from  branch  to  bush,  and  twig,  chirping  his  puzzled 
tremors  of  excitement,  with  such  a  coquetting  flutter  of 
pretty  airish  changes,  that  I  could  not  restrain  myself 
from  the  impulse  of  laughter  that  discovered  my  am- 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  89 

bush,  and  anxiety  to  greet  the  merry  humor  of  the  little 
buffoon's  desire  to  show  his  witty  resources  enlisted  in 
sympathy  for  my  amusement  and  affectionate  surprise. 
To  describe  how  completely  engrossed  I  became 
with  these  sportive  essays  of  winged  affection  would 
be  impossible  ;  or  to  impress  you  with  an  emotional 
perception  of  the  change  wrought  for  there-transition 
from  age  to  the  joyous  zest  of  youth.  But  how  differ 
ent  from  the  sports  that  were  the  associate  boast  of 
my  comrades  in  the  school  fellowship  of  my  real 
youth?  The  thought,  while  the  soong-tee's  confiding, 
chirping  notes  were  expressing  with  the  fond  varia 
tions  of  eye  and  plumage  ruffling  joy  his  success,  made 
my  blood  tingle  my  flesh  with  the  heated  current  of 
shame  and  horror  as  his  sight  caught  mine;  suggesting 
with  its  look  of  inquiry  the  transmigration  communion 
of  our  soil's  vitality.  Mrs.  Leslie  second,  with  some 
visitors,  who  had  watched  my  sportive  engagement 
with  the  social  soong-tee's  fun-loving  nature,  described 
to  me  their  fondness  for  acting  the  part  of  amusing 
ciceroni  to  strangers,  and  advised  me  that  a  like  in 
stinctive  homage  of  entertaining  good-will  would  be 
bestowed  by  representatives  of  all  the  higher  orders 
of  the  animal  species  capable  of  appreciating  their 
privileges  of  enjoyment,  and  imparting  them  to  our 
guests  in  grateful  token  of  a  desire  to  be  recognized 
as  members  of  our  community  of  affection;  so  that  I 
might  be  on  my  guard  against  wounding  their  sensi 
tive  love  with  indifference.  In  proof  of  this  spirit  of 
discernment  and  its  disseminative  impress  for  impart 
ing  to  adverse  natures  a  conciliating  address,  as  I 
passed  a  paddock  witliDut  the  enclosure,  in  my  de 
scent  to  the  plantations  of  the  plain,  a  mule  and  his 
jack  father  catching  sight  of  me,  emerged  from  the 
gate  and  paid  me  their  respectful  salutations,  in  voices 
modified  from  the  nasal  throat  key  vibrations  of  their 
civilized  brethren  ;  although  still  retaining  the  in- 
gurgitation  of  sound,  which  is  the  distinguishing  trait 
and  pride  of  their  species,  as  it  is  inimitable  in  dem 
agogic  tones  by  all  others,  except  our  own.  In  more 
wonderful  evidence  of  the  harmonizing  influence  of 
example,  they  presented  me  their  heads  instead  of 


90  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

their  heels,  to  receive  the  ritualistic  tokens  of  order 
membership  from  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  sacred 
to  ancestral  stupidity  and  obstinacy,  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  their  stable  ordinances.  These  meek  and 
lowly  traits  which  a  kindred  mother  in  Israel  had 
failed  to  transmit  from  the  notable  burthen  she  once 
bore  into  Jerusalem,  with  hosauna  shouts  of  triumph 
from  the  associate  multitude,  bespoke  a  higher  influ 
ence  from  exampled  affection  in  freedom  from  the 
fanatic  taint  of  superstitious  Jesuitism.  After  these 
instinctive  tokens  of  good-fellowship  had  been  ex 
changed,  they,  with  an  unobtrusive  spirit  of  elation, 
trotted  back  and  resigned  themselves  to  the  cool  shade 
of  the  paddock  trees.  Throughout  the  course  of  my 
walk  this  instinctive  "  ovation  "  was  continued  in  form 
adaptation  for  the  expression  of  specie  good- will,  and 
in  freedom  from  fear.  But  my  first  love,  the  soong- 
tee,  accompanied  me  until  my  return,  and  then,  in  the 
bul-bul's  vine,  warbled  a  lullaby  for  my  noon-day 
siesta's  repose. 


Convert  Babi,  the  Travelling  Companion  of  Loftus 
Leslie,  I  had  not  seen  from  the  time  of  his  grand 
father's  appearance,  but  learned  at  the  refection  table, 
that  he  was  enjoying  a  picnic  season,  ail-natural,  with 
his  guardians  of  infancy,  at  one  of  their  interior  mar- 
truvas.  Observing  my  look  of  surprise,  his  mother 
informed  me  that  he  had  been  stolen  from  his  cradle 
when  but  three  months  old,  by  the  long-tailed  Gib 
bons  chang,  when  on  the  eve  of  migration  to  or.e  of 
their  undiscovered  retreats.  Although  every  effort 
was  made  at  the  time  for  his  recovery,  twelve  years 
elapsed  before  they  obtained  reliable  knowledge  of  his 
existence.  "  But  we  had  learned,"  she  continued, 
"  that  our  ideas  of  the  pre-supposed  object  that  led  to 
the  abduction  of  our  children  was  erroneous.  Instead 
of  seeking  a  blood  alliance  with  our  race,  it  was 
looked  upon  with  unconquerable  disdain,  as  a  source 
of  inevitable  degradation.  Yet,  with  a  more  charitable 
regard  for  truth  than  we  bestow  upon  them,  as  our 
happy  and  sinless  progenitors  in  kind,  they  practi- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  91 

cally  admit  its  feasibility  as  a  source  of  regeneration  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  appear  to  understand  that  in  a 
literary  point  of  view,  from  the  sentence  of  multipli 
cation  denounced  against  our  enlightened  first  parents, 
for  disobedience,  they  would  become  involved  in  the 
penalty.  Still,  in  evidence  of  their  practical  good 
will,  which  in  open  expression  of  intention  we  should 
repudiate — they  have  endeavored  to  bestow  upon  our 
infants,  in  a  limited  degree,  the  benefits  of  regenera 
tion,  in  a  surreptitious  way.  This  missionary  effort  is 
directed  to  the  sacrum,  below  its  articulation  with  the 
alse  of  the  pelvis  ;  for  the  purpose  of  elongation  before 
the  process  of  ossification  takes  place  for  the  consoli 
dation  of  the  sacral  and  cocoggeal  rings.  As  a  relic 
of  the  primal  caudal  gland  remains,  to  attest  to  the 
original  normal  condition  of  our  race,  their  missionary 
labors  have  produced  many  hopeful  conversions, 
among  which  that  of  our  son  stands  preeminent.  As 
sociation,  with  a  natural  apish  desire  for  imitation 
and  germ-manic  gymnastry,  re-begets  a  most  happy 
resemblance  to  their  prototype  exemplars. 

"  In  addition,  their  abstemious  habits  encourage 
purity  and  good  will,  so  that  ebullitions  of  anger  and 
despite  are  of  r.ire  occurrence.  My  son,  although  not 
lacking  in  dutiful  regard  to  us  as  his  natural  parents, 
of  course  appreciates  his  manifest  advantages  from 
conversion,  and  laments  our  hopeless  condition,  but 
encourages  us  to  cultivate  with  exhortation  and  exam 
ple  the  inward  testimony  of  a  tailful  spirit  for  a  per 
fect  resurrection.  Indeed  we  have  become  convinced 
from  the  transmitted  happy  effects  of  regeneration 
that  it  will  become  a  source  of  a  lasting  revival  of  sin 
fully  lost  impressions  which  are  at  present  eked  out 
with  artificial  means  and  faith  in  prayer.  At  times 
I  have  seen  my  son  despondent  when  he  has  felt 
the  shortcomings  of  his  hold  on  heavenly  aspirations 
in  comparison  with  the  prehensile  grasp  of  his  pres 
byter  exemplars,  but  faith  in  renewing  grace  and  the 
hopeless  vanity  that  exalts  the  less  favored  children  of 
mortality  usually  restored  him  to  a  placid  state  of  con 
tentment.  However,  the  few  minutes  with  which  he 
favored  me,  after  his  return  yesterday,  showed  clearly 


92  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

that  his  hopes  of  restoring  civilized  humanity  to  a  full 
impression  of  their  unhappy  condition  hud  forever  de 
parted.  He  views  the  original  state  of  your  first  pa 
rents'  tail  suspension,  by  the  creative  God  of  Israel,  as 
a  probationary  test  of  forbearance  for  the  realization 
of  a  more  exalted  capacity,  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  pastors  of  the  pilgrim  churches  of  America,  the 
Methodist,  and  other  evangelical  revivalists  he  found 
very  few  who  in  their  daily  meditations  were  inclined 
to  view  the  sacred  memorial  ordinances  of  the  tail 
with  a  contrite  heart  in  freedom  from  envious  vanity. 
When  I  questioned  him  with  regard  to  the  religious 
virtues  of  the  females  of  your  race,  he  answered  with 
pitying  tears  of  scorn :  '  They  are  all  votaries  of  toil 
some  fashions,  and  are  so  insensible  to  the  prehensile 
means  of  purity  with  which  their  first  parents  were  en 
dowed  that  they  drag  the  sacred  memorials  of  tail  sus 
pension  in  the  filth,  mud  and  dust  of  the  streets  until 
their  persons  reek  with  the  soils  of  their  first  sinful 
conception.'  With  this  woful  outburst  he  departed, 
and  left  behind  him  the  artificial  garments  which  had 
been  substituted  for  the  natural  skins  of  beasts  be 
stowed  as  coverings,  yearly  renewed,  by  our  triad  God 
Vashuu,  as  well  as  by  yours  of  Israel.  But  a  moth 
er's  love  is  not  jealous,  more  with  us  than  with  you, 
when  the  preference  is  given  to  the  sinless  creations 
of  Yashnu." 

Suspecting  that  possibly  there  might  be  a  kindred 
affection  between  her  son  and  some  maiden  convert,  I 
questioned  whether  any  other  system  of  education  was 
adopted  than  practical  regeneration  and  quadrumanal 
gymnastics  necessary  for  sinless  progression. 

In  reply  she  said,  that  what  was  styled  literary 
knowledge,  in  sinful  acceptation,  derived  its  necessity 
from  the  doom  denounced  against  our  firnt  parent  rep 
resentatives  of  mankind  in  punishment  for  disobe 
dience,  as  literary  multiplication  involved  the  Babel 
use  of  tongues,  and  consequent  discord  evoked  from 
the  use  of  the  pen  and  its  type  multiplier  of  hybrid 
brain  conceptions.  "  But,  as  a  sinless  race,  the  Orangs 
have  been  enabled  to  profit  by  the  doom  denounced 
against  the  transgressors  of  the  decrees  of  the  god-cre- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  93 

ators  Con-Fuse-Us,  Vashnu,  and  Israel;  and  in  dread 
of  the  example  and  propagandic  missionary  efforts  of 
a  race  who  do  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  themselves 
totally  depraved,  and  lost  beyond  the  hope  of  salva 
tion,  they  keep  their  converts,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
able,  out  of  the  reach  of  temptation.  So  that,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  those  of  our  children  who  have  been 
hopefully  regenerated  through  their  missionary  labors, 
and  restored  to  a  germ-manic  perception  of  the  joys 
entailed  from  a  full  caudalistic  endowment,  have  been 
content  to  remain  in  their  reconverted  state.  The  vol 
untary  restoration  of  our  son  was  undoubtedly  caused 
from  the  disposition  shown  by  the  residents  to  pay 
special  reverence  to  the  long-tailed  Orang,  as  the  sin 
less  descendants  of  Him-Nay-Poo,  the  mountain  crea 
tor  of  'ihibetstan,  to  whom  we  hold  ourselves  worship- 
fully  tributaries.  We  now  perceive  that  their  trust 
and  faith  placed  in  the  regenerating  influence  of  their 
revivalist  labors  were  not  miscalculated;  for  he  has 
passed  the  ordeal  of  your  high,  low,  catholic  ass-and- 
dissenting  sects  in  freedom  from  the  least  taint  of 
apostacy.  In  verification  of  his  sincerity,  he  exclaimed, 
as  he  embraced  me,  '  Oh,  mother,  I  am  so  rejoiced  that 
I  have  lived  to  return  and  see  you  .all  again!  for  I  feel 
as  though  I  had  escaped  from  the  shadowy  realms  of 
hypocrisy  and  self-torment  to  enjoy  again  the  peaceful 
solace  of  real  affection.'  Questioning  the  source  of  his 
disappointment,  he  said  that,  with  few  exceptions, 
they  had  found  all  the  civilized  peoples  hypocritical 
idolaters,  who  worshiped  the  sj^mbolic  emblems  of  the 
sinless  tail,  but  scorned,  with  perverse  infatuation,  to 
acknowledge  that  its  loss  was  fore-ordained  as  an 
evolved  punishment  for  the  gratification  of  disobedient 
taste.  '  Indeed,  mother/  he  exclaimed,  with  tearful 
eyes.  '  I  can  assure  you  that  the  women,  almost  with 
out  exception,  have  become  so  insensible  to  the  divine 
attributes  of  the  symbolic  tail  of  purity,  that  they  trail 
the  emblems  in  the  dust  and  make  them  scavenger- 
trains  for  the  absorption  of  the  men's  mouth  ejections 
of  eschewed  filth.  Moreover,  they  possess  so  little  of 
the  inward  spirit  of  renewed  desire  for  regeneration 
that  they  allow  their  idolatrous  worship  to  be  con- 


94  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

trolled  by  a  high  priest  of  fashion,  who  assumes  the 
name  of  Worth,  and  holds  his  shrine  in  the  holy  city 
of  Paris,  sacred  to  the  rites  of  Folly.5 

"Loftus  tried  to  convince  him  that  the  worship  was 
sincere  from  hereditary  impression;  but  that  the  rites 
of  expression  had  become  Babelized  from  the  influence 
of  zealous  vanity,  which  sectarian  priests  encourage 
for  their  own  support!  But,  he  urged,  that  little  con 
solation  could  be  derived  from  a  negative  source,  that 
confirmed  their  indifference  to  the  great  loss  they  had 
sustained,  and  the  means  of  salvation.  I  asked  Con 
vert,  why  he  had  not  offered  them  the  convincing 
proof,  with  the  evidence  of  his  own  hopeful  conversion. 
He  said,  that  in  his  first  zealous  desire  for  the  re 
conversion  of  the  Londoners,  influenced  by  listening  to 
a  sermon  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spurgeon,  and  an  exhortation 
from  one  of  his  female  devotees,  he  had;  but  as  they 
wished  to  treat  it  scientifically,  he  became  disgusted 
with  their  lack  of  trust  in  their  own  senses;  when  they 
placed  so  much  faith  in  miraculous  impossibilities;  and 
resolved  from  thenceforth  to  withhold  the  evidence  of 
his  own  regeneration  from  the  curious  eyes  of  sectarian 
speculation.  On  his  arrival  in  New  England  he  was 
again  encouraged  by  the  Kev.  Moodee,  and  co-laborer 
Sankee's  exhortations,  to  reveal,  to  the  most  hopeful 
of  their  converts,  his  index  for  the  assurance  of  mani 
fest  reconversion,  without  the  interposition  of  faith. 
But,  although,  convinced  of  its  reality;  after  a  prayer 
ful  address  to  the  throne  of  grace,  tiiey  questioned 
among  themselves  whether  its  material  reproduction 
might  not  be  a  serious  inconvenience,  in  a  partially 
developed  state,  to  a  suitable  adaptation  of  the  fash 
ionable  changes  required  for  a  becoming  expression  of 
prayerful  devotion,  in  submission  to  the  decrees  of  the 
god  of  Israel!  They  then  appointed  a  committee  to 
wait  upon  Convert  and  request  him  to  give  his  experi 
ence  at  a  special  conference  meeting  of  the  ladies. 
The  invitation  he  accepted,  but  not  in  freedom  from 
misgivings,  as  his  caste  prejudices  had  become  sacred 
from  the  special  favor  he  had  found  in  the  eyes  of  the 
sinless  antecedent  representatives  of  humanity,  who 
had  interested  themselves  for  his  redemption  from  the 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  95 

penalty  of  transgression.  Loftus,  to  whom  he  de 
scribed  his  emotions  after  he  had  been  interviewed  by 
the  ladies  of  the  Baptist  conference,  says,  that  his 
condition  was  truly  pitiable,  yet  of  that  ludicrously 
doleful  cast,  conjured  from  imaginary  woes,  which  ex 
cites  a  disposition  to  mirthful,  rather  than  serious 
sympathy.  He,  in  relation,  said,  that  in  compliance 
with  the  terms  of  the  invitation,  he  was  received  by 
the  committee  of  reception;  who  in  turn  transferred 
him  to  those  appointed  for  introduction  to  the  spiritual 
soul  commission,  and  by  them  to  the  investigating 
committee  composed  of  a  mother  in  Israel,  a  doctress, 
a  lawress,  and  milliner  or  dressmaker.  After  the 
formalistic  rites  of  selecting  the  mother  as  a  presi 
dential  chairwoman;  the  active  course  of  inquiry  com 
menced,  by  sundry  preliminary  ahems,  from  the 
elected  speaker;  who  after  succeeding  in  the  vocal  ad 
justment  of  her  throat,  addressed  him  as  follows:  'We 
have  hear'n  tell  that  you  came  from  our  missionary 
injes  and  that  you  hav-hav-a-.'  Here  the  doctress 
interposed  for  the  relief  of  the  chairwoman's  delicate 
question,  with  the  direct  question  in  proposition. 
'We  have  heard,  upon  your  own  authority,  that  you 
are  a  native  of  the  island  of  Sumatra;  and  by  descent 
from  the  Malabar  Coolies,  who  are  worshipers  of  a 
race  of  long-tailed  monkeys:  and  that  you  was 
abducted  or  stolen  by  a  race  of  Orangs  in  your  infancy, 
who  succeeded  in  manipulating  the  terminal  portion  of 
your  os  sacrum  into  a  succedaneous-caudal  extremity, 
or  representative  t-tail?  Also,  that  you  have  derived 
from  the  acquisition  emotional  sensations,  or  retro- 
cedent  wags,  which  you  have  referred  to  a  hopeful 
reconversion  into  the  sinless  state  of  purity  enjoyed 
by  our  or  your  first  parents,  before  they  tasted  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  ?' 

"To  these  questions,  so  lucidly  emphatic  in  assevera 
tion,  Convert  replied:  'All  that  you  have  stated  is 
literally  true;  although  memory  will  not  allow  me  to 
refer  to  my  experience  before  the  eventful  period  of  the 
Orang  Missionaries3  labors  for  my  regeneration — for 
comparison  I  am,  nevertheless,  certain  that  my  impres- 


96  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

sions  are  of  that  happy  class  which  you  would  attribute 
solely  to  the  source  that  I  claim  for  identification.' 

Laivress — "  '  Then  you  consider  that  you  are  entitled 
to  the  primogenial  spirit  of  entail  from  the  ordinance  of 
renewal  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  not  as  we 
claim  by  the  impression  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?' 

Convert — ' '  'It  is  certain  that  if  they  had  not  labored 
for  my  reconversion  into  the  type  of  purity,  which  they 
represent  with  such  an  extended  endowment  of  grace 
in  a  legitimate  way,  that  can  be  readily  comprehended, 
I  should  have  been  left  to  the  darkness  of  conjecture, 
and  the  vague  impressions  which  you  find  it  so  diffi 
cult  to  analyze  and  locate  as  the  source  of  your  di 
rection.  But,  my  dear  sisters,  did  you  never,  in  medi 
tation,  reflect  in  your  desire  to  become  members  of  the 
angelic  choir  that  a  tail  was  an  indispensable  source  of 
direction  to  wings,  and  that  your  first  parents'  sus 
pension  by  it  was  the  period  of  probation  that  was  fixed 
to  determine  whether  you  would  mount  and  fly  in  sin 
less  freedom,  or  fall  from  the  weight  of  knowledge 
gained  by  disobedience  and  revolution,  tailless,  to  be 
come  again  allied  with  your  mother  earth?  If  you  will 
bestow  your  thoughts  in  calm  investigation  of  the  im 
pressions  that  lead  you  to  adopt  fashions — which  have 
their  origin  from  hereditary  influence — you  will  find 
that  they  are  derived  from  the  Holy  Ghost  reflection 
of  a  tail.  Or  if  you  will  remark,  with  a  studious 
desire  for  truthful  enlightenment  the  effect  of  habits 
for  the  increasing  incumbrance  of  your  body,  with 
the  soil's  increase  from  earthly  accumulation,  in  excess 
of  organic  want  for  cultivation,  you  will  find  that  you 
are  fatally  receding  from  the  goal  of  your  hopes.  Yet 
you  disdain  the  manifest  source  of  your  origin,  while 
you  cultivate  the  natural  indications  in  a  way  alike 
detrimental  to  health,  happiness  and  the  assurance  of 
immortality.' 

Doctress — "  'But  how  can  you  assume, without  knowl 
edge,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  was  obtained 
from  it,  with  the  privilege  of  redeeming  grace  sanctified 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  97 

through  the  agency  of  a  believing  faith  in  the  divine 
ordinances?' 

Convert — "  'As  you  have  now  emerged  upon  the  des 
ert  waste,  subject  to  the  sectarian  sand-blasts  that 
blind  the  eyes  to  rational  direction,  where  faith  and 
fate  assume  the  lead,  for  the  consummation  of  self- 
destruction,  I  might,  in  answering  according  to  my 
discretion,  incur  in  designation  a  worse  or  more  op 
probrious  title  than  pagan  and  infidel.  So  that,  with 
your  permission,  it  is  better  that  we  should  part  with 
out  making  additional  effort  for  the  amalgamation  of 
your  artificial  impressions  of  an  hereditary  tail,  with 
my  natural  sensations  derived  from  the  Orang  ordi 
nances  for  the  propagation  of  material  regeneration/ 

Doctress — "  'But  then  do  you  really  feel — excuse  me, 
the  position  is  so  novel — that  your  germ  of  a  t-tail  con 
veys  to  your  soul  a  distinct  impression  of  the  sinless 
condition  of  our  first  parents,  before  their  fall,  and  if 
so,  do  you  assume  that  the  virtue  of  their  state  of 
beatitude  in  th-that  member  was  their  sole  depend 
ence  for  happiness  ?  I  would  like  to  have  you  consider 
the  bearing  of  the  questions  as  religiously  scientific.' 

Convert — "  '  We  have  been  taught  by  the  directing 
genius  of  Saar  Soong,  which  seems  to  preside  over  our 
judgment  in  matters  pertaining  to  right  and  wrong, 
that  conjecture  is  a  bad  foundation  for  hazarding  ques 
tions  of  creative  intention.  But  I  will  presume,  rev 
erentially,  to  suggest  that  the  prehensile  hold  of  the 
tail  for  the  body's  suspension  might  have  been  a  tad 
pole  test  of  capacity  for  a  celestial  flight,  or  a  ruling 
terrestrial  association  with  kindred  animality,  whose 
tails  are  simple  dependencies,  which  can  be  docked 
without  aggravating  the  source  of  vitality  or  impairing 
their  hopes  of  a  future  existence.  But  your  dress, 
with  its  appended  tags  and  herald  memorials  of  your 
lost  estate,  attest  with  the  strongest  scientific  and  in 
ductive  evidence  to  the  source  of  our  racial  degrada 
tion  and  hopes  of  regeneration  through  the  pardoning 
grace  of  restoration  to  our  lost  condition.  As  a  doc- 
5 


98  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

tress  you  should  be  aware  that  our  race  still  retains  the 
caudal  gland  as  a  weeping  memorial  of  the  lost  mem 
ber,  and  I  will  refer  you  to  its  long  neglected  impres 
sions,  which  can  be  revived,  for  your  sacramental  con 
firmation.  Even  the  word  '  sacrum/  which  is  in  mean 
ing  a  derivative  from  antecedent  equivalents  in  expres 
sion,  signifies  an  altar  of  sacrifice;  and  in  all  proba 
bility  the  ordinances  of  the  sacrament  had  their  origin 
in  commemoration  of  a  loss  that  established  the  rule 
of  sin  and  brought  death  into  the  world  with  all  our 
woe.  My  sacra-mental  sensations  have  been  cauclially 
cultivated,  and  have  from  natural  sourca  reached  a- 
higher  degree  of  visible  attainment  and  mental  im 
pression  than  your  formalistic  artificial  ceremonial 
rites,  which  only  rely  upon  tradition  and  hope  for 
sanctified  realization/ 

Doctress — "  '  Really,  Sir  Orang;  if  we  are  to  be  con 
demned  on  the  score  of  knowledge,  I  am  afraid  that 
your  cultivated  ante-dote  will  have  to  be  largely  en 
dowed  with  saving  grace  to  counteract  your  own  in 
heritance  of  mankind's  sinful  nature.  But  with  your 
cultivated  attainments  as  a  human  being,  influenced 
by  your  partially  renewed  condition,  how  are  you  able 
to  reconcile  in  natural  sequence  our  upright  walk  wTith 
previous  quadrumanal  habitude?' 

Convert — "  '  The  immediate  consequences  of  sinful 
disobedience  presupposes  the  loss  of  the  tail,  which, 
with  its  prehensile  power  of  suspension,  left  two  pair  of 
hands  for  service,  instead  of  the  pair  of  our  present  de 
pendence.  In  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  by  Is 
rael's  God,  the  loss  of  the  tail  is  implied  in  the  de 
scription  as  having  been  caused  by  a  fall  from  a  high 
position  while  in  reach  for  the  forbidden  fruit.  By 
this  fore-ordained  accident  the  sinless  state  of  orangin- 
ity  was  forfeited,  and  in  fact  your  progenitors,  Adam 
and  Eve,  were  reduced  to  an  earthly  quadrumanal 
walk  without  the  suspensory  aid  of  their  sinless  spe 
ciality.  As  this  condition  was  equivalent  to  quadre- 
pedal,  and  they  were  condemned  to  support  them 
selves  by  labor,  their  powers  of  observation,  which  are 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  99 

the  source  of  knowledge,  discovered  that  the  loss  of 
the  tail  established  a  vicarious  supply  of  pabulum  to 
the  parts  (muscles)  of  its  body  attachment,  which,  as 
they  increased  in  bulk,  projected  backward,  acting  as 
a  centre  of  gravity,  with  a  tendency  to  an  upright 
walk.  The  necessary  advantages  of  this  position  led 
to  its  cultivation,  and  as  exercise  developed  a  progres 
sive  tendency,  Cain,  their  first  born,  was  undoubtedly 
subjected  to  the  spanking  process  in  experimental  ex 
cess  beyond  discretion  to  urge  his  devotion  to  tillage. 
Improving  from  the  adverse  knowledge  exhibited  by 
Cain's  temper  under  the  infliction,  Abel,  their  second 
child,  was  treated  with  greater  leniency,  not  only  in 
the  hand  cultivation  of  his  soil,  but  in  the  choice  of  a 
vocation,  which,  as  a  shepherd,  freed  him  from  the 
penalty  of  labor;  this  favoritism  caused  deadly  jealousy 
and  revenge.  Our  Saar  Soong  genii  have  suggested 
that  Adam  might  have  been  addicted  to  the  juice  of 
the  cane,  which  caused  his  fall,  and  the  distempered 
source  of  his  son's  cognomen  and  jealous  irritability. 
But  as  this  pre-supposes  a  knowledge  of  its  intoxicat 
ing  properties  communicated  by  the  serpent,  through 
Eve,  we  do  not  feel  much  inclined  to  patronize  the 
natural  inference,  as  it  would  too  plainly  indicate  the 
primal  source  of  our  woe.  Yet  we  have  the  same  tra 
ditional  predisposition  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  great 
calamity  which  has  befallen  our  race  to  the  juice  of 
the  cane,  as  we  have  to  christen  our  walking-sticks 
from  the  use  Cain  made  of  his  for  avenging  himself  of 
the  preference  shown  to  his  brother  Abel/ 

Doctress — "  '  Your  interpretation  of  scripture  is  some 
what  singular,  yet  there  is  a  seeming  approach,  from 
the  world's  exampled  evidence,  to  the  real  cause  of 
our  unhappy  state.  But  you  appear  to  have  in  your 
composition  more  of  human  than  orang  nature,  for 
tracing  events  from  cause  to  effect.  How  do  you  ac 
count  for  this  predominance,  when  you  were  subject  to 
the  molding  influence  of  orang  instinct  from  the  pe 
riod  of  unconscious  infancy  to  puberty,  the  most  im 
portant  stage  in  life  for  establishing  a  predisposing 
preference  for  the  control  of  subsequent  habits?  ' 


100  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

Convert — "  '  After  the  hereditary  lapse  of  five  thou 
sand  years'  (according  to  scriptural  computation)  ex 
perience  in  the  mutability  of  human  "  knowledge,"  you 
cannot  reasonably  expect  or  religiously  hope  that  the 
current  impress  of  disobedience  could  be  turned  aside 
for  the  re-establishment  of  innocent  simplicity,  by  a 
novitiate  of  twelve,  with  the  sinless  representatives  of 
the  original  stock  ?  Or  that  the  germ-manic  impres 
sion  of  a  regenerated  tail,  reinduced  after  so  long  a 
bereavement,  would  be  able  to  accomplish  more  than 
to  afford  me  a  realizing  sense  of  the  unprofitable  van 
ity  of  human  knowledge.  The  fact  of  preference  for 
a  state  of  sinless  irresponsibility,  which  was  increased 
with  my  knowledge  of  the  discordant  elements  of 
selfishness  that  ruled  the  world,  should  prove  a  suffi 
cient  cause  for  you  to  understand  the  sanity  of  my 
choice.  If  you  can  inform  me,  from  your  own  expe 
rience,  or  of  any  other  well  authenticated,  of  the  ex 
act  or  approximate  amount  of  happiness  that  has  ever 
been  realized  from  knowledge,  by  individuals  or  com 
munities,  aside  from  its  legitimate  object  of  endow 
ment,  which  was  for  the  enhancement  of  affectionate 
confidence  that  extends  in  grateful  appreciation  from 
the  creature  to  the  Creator,  you  will  then  be  able  to 
recognize  the  use  that  I  have  made  of  my  privilege  of 
comparison.' 

Lawress—11 '  You  certainly  must  have  felt  very  grate 
ful  to  your  human  relatives,  when  your  cultivated  in 
telligence  made  you  aware  of  the  lawless  state  from 
which  you  had  been  reclaimed?  For  order  has  been 
proclaimed  as  the  first  law  of  nature;  and  by  it  we 
are  made  to  understand  statute  rights  for  individual 
and  community  regulations,  which,  of  course,  you  will 
not  claim  that  your  orang  abductors  could  in  the  re 
motest  degree  understand  ? ' 

Convert — " '  Order  is  a  term  susceptible  of  a  great 
variety  of  interpretations  ;  and  to  my  apprehension 
has  no  fixed  value  or  estimate  for  clear  appreciation 
with  your  civilized  communities,  which  have  from  the 
beginning  evoked  orders  for  the  cure  of  disorders. 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        101 

My  orang  intuition  gave  me  an  insight  into  a  system 
void  of  offense,  inasmuch  as  it  corrected  errors  of 
judgment  without  reference  to  a  future  day  ;  so  that 
there  was  no  cause  for  a  breeding  source  of  aggrava 
tion  to  beget  a  contravention  of  well-ordered  under 
standing.  While  with  them,  I  learned  to  drink,  eat, 
exercise,  and  sleep  with  a  relish  that  never  exceeded 
the  limits  of  satisfaction,  and  realized  as  much  of 
natural  affection  as  my  understanding  required,  with 
out  any  of  the  aggravations  that  provoke  your  chil 
dren  to  anger,  reprisals,  and  recriminations.  This, 
even,  with  my  Saar  Soong  experience,  affords  me  an 
impression  of  order  which  adapts,  with  instinctive 
'reason,'  the  means  to  an  appropriate  end,  equivalent 
to  the  demand  and  reach  of  expectation.  While  with 
your  people,  under  the  canopy  of  civilization,  the 
order  of  law-sustained  selfishness  encourages  the 
grasping  to  accumulate  in  excess  of  their  require 
ments,  to  the  absolute  detriment  and  starvation  of  the 
real  laborer,  who  is,  in  fact,  made  to  offer  his  brow  as 
an  altar  for  a  sweat  sacrifice  for  the  redemption  of  the 
oppressor  from  the  common  penalty  of  sin.  Indeed, 
if  I  am  permitted  to  return  to  Sumatra,  I  shall  hold 
it  as  my  thankful  duty  to  pay  my  orang  teachers  for 
their  missionary  labors  in  my  behalf,  which  have 
taught  me  that  the  resources  of  my  own  erring  nature 
offer  me  a  field  for  cultivation  and  correction  for  an 
exampled  harvest  of  contentment.' 

Doctress — '"Do  you  wish  to  have  us  understand  that 
the  Orang  can  appreciate,  with  remembrance,  evi 
dences  of  gratitude  with  the  power  to  distinguish  the 
source  and  object  of  their  bestowal  ?  Or  that  the  ob 
ject  of  their  labors  bestowed  upon  your  person  were  of 
a  scientific  order  really  designed  for  the  reproduction 
of  a  sinless  specialty,  founded  upon  a  theoretical 
knowledge  of  the  original  endowment,  with  a  just  ap 
preciation  of  the  causes  that  led  to  your  degeneration 
from  their  standard  of  redeeming  grace?' 

Convert — '"It  is  quite  sufficient  forme  to  know  that 
they  retain  the  negative  power  of  suspension  which 
held  the  balance  of  the  body  for  the  choice  of  good, 


102  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

or  evil,  for  creative  evolvement,  and  that  scientific  cu 
riosity  turned  the  scale  and  laid  the  foundation 
for  theoretical  surmise,  which  has,  from  thence,  ever 
been  reaching  forward  for  the  chimerical  power  of 
knowledge  that  will  fulfil  the  Serpent's  promise  to  the 
Eve  of  your  race.  Still  it  requires  but  limited  powers 
of  comparison  to  understand  that  your  artificial  re 
sources  only  tend  to  separate  more  widely  the  cohesive 
elements  of  concord  with  an  increase  of  hopeful  infat 
uation  that  must  prove  a  source  of  humorous  reflection 
from  the  exhibition  of  free-will  attributes  to  your  God 
of  Israel  With  regard  to  the  Orangs'  powers  of  per 
ception  they  certainly  have  a  quick  understanding  of 
likes  and  dislikes,  and  are  not  deficient  in  power  for 
the  recognition  of  the  source  from  which  benefits  are 
received,  and  that  testifies  to  the  possession  of  a  dis 
position  capable  of  feeling  the  grateful  impressions  of 
reciprocation.  They  may  also  possess,  in  a  limited  de 
gree,  the  powers  of  comparison  for  the  relative  under 
standing  of  capacity  for  enjoyment,  and  the  means  to 
be  used  for  attainment  or  realization  in  the  way  of  ma 
terial  gratification.  But  as  they  represent  the  tailful 
period  of  contentment,  it  cannot  be  expected  that 
they  possess  the  capacity  of  a  Padre  Simon  or  Saint 
Cecilia  for  the  appreciation  of  faith  without  works, 
sufficient  for  the  realization  of  right  while  they  still  the 
wrong  pursue.' 

Doctress—"  '  Have  you  any  knowledge  of  the  process 
by  which  your  abductors  were  enabled  to  effect  this 
rudimentary  evidence  of  material  regeneration,  and  if 
all  were  alike  susceptible  to  the  '  ordinance  of  redeem 
ing  grace  ?' 

Convert — "  *  Daring  my  novitiate  my  curiosity  was 
not  excited,  as  I  was  too  young  to  appreciate  the  re 
deeming  joys  of  this  special  interposition  of  an  act  of 
saving  grace,  or  to  test  its  sufficiency  or  efficacy  by 
comparison  to  learn  whether  it  contained  the  abiding 
solace  of  extreme  unction.  But  as  I  increased  in  years, 
I  became  aware  of  its  impression,  and  after  I  had 
obtained  a  knowledge  of  anatomy  and  physiology  from 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  103 

iny  father,  with  an  empirical  insight  into  the  therapeu 
tical  use  of  remedies  for  the  cure  of  diseases  incident 
to  hereditary  imposition,  and  those  self-incurred  and 
accidental,  my  curiosity  became  desirous  ,of  learning 
the  method  that  had  been  employed  for  my  salvation 
from  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  again  sought  my  associa 
tion  to  gain  the  confidence  of  my  evangelical  renova 
tors.  After  my  sojourn  at  their  chief  martruvo  had  been 
sufficiently  extended  to  insure  their  confidence  and 
approval,  I  learned  that  the  rites  were  administered 
with  ceremonials  akin  to  those  of  circumcision,  but 
the  process  was  peculiar,  resembling,  in  some  respects, 
that  of  the  Flat  Head  Indians,  but  it  was  more  scien 
tific  and  satisfactory  in  its  result.  The  native  Malay 
convert  was  styled  a  Kubu  Orang,  but  all  the  others 
were  known  by  their  tribal,  or  names  of  national  de 
rivation,  with  the  exception  of  the  Troglodytes,  whose 
debasing  habits  made  their  bodies  dens  for  an  existing 
lodgment  of  vitality;  in  fact,  they  were  so  regardless 
of  grateful  consideration  for  the  missionary  labors  be 
stowed  by  the  Gibbons  Orangs  for  their  regeneration, 
that  they  persecuted  them  with  unrelenting  hatred. 
After  the  full  establishment  of  caudality  had  been 
assured,  the  Neophytes  were  placed  in  conventual  in 
stitutions,  or  martruvos,  under  the  charge  of  Kubu 
Matriculants  of  long  standing  and  well-tried  faith  in 
the  efficacy  of  saving  grace.  Although  the  male  and 
female  departments  were  separate,  it  was  not  with  the 
intention  of  promoting  celibacy,  but  seemingly  with 
the  desire  of  effecting  a  more  legitimate  union  of  faith 
and  abounding  grace,  which  was  determined  in  a 
practical  way  by  measuring  the  extent  of  their  caudial 
affinities.  With  regard  to  the  development  of  material 
faith  it  was  found,  from  well-tested  experience,  that 
the  females  were  much  more  susceptible  to  the  in 
dwelling  impression  of  future  regeneration,  and  that 
they  universally  cultivated  and  esteemed  their  caudial 
endowment  as  a  pinnate  foundation  for  full-fledged 
angelic  flight.' 

Doctress — "  '  But,  does  your  experience  and  faith  feel 
the  reviving  influence  of  caudial  regeneration,  which 


104  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

appears  to  be  derived  in  a  measure  from  surreptitious 
force,  and  not  through  the  inspiring  spirit  of  divine 
grace  imparted  from  wrestling  with  God  in  prayer  ? ' 

Convert — "  '  It  is  simply  viewed,  by  those  of  the  con 
verts  who  place  reliance  in  the  human  endowment  of 
knowledge,  as  a  way  left  open  for  our  salvation  from 
the  bondage  of  sin,  and  spanking  aggravations,  which 
in  developing  the  center  of  gravity  for  an  upright 
walk,  beget  the  devilish  spirit  of  despite  and  revenge 
beyond  the  power  of  faith  for  atonement  Besides,  it 
offers  material  evidence  to  sustain  the  necessity  of 
uniting  faith  and  good  works  for  a  flight  of  regenera 
tion  ;  and  wrestling  with  God  in  prayer,  appears  to 
our  natures  a  repulsive  way  of  soliciting  an  induce 
ment  for  an  act  of  renewed  grace.  With  your  per 
mission,  I  will  now  ask  if  your  knowledge  is  rightly 
directed  in  assuming  to  offer  the  trains,  or  tails,  of 
your  dresses  as  a  soil-accumulating  drag  to  unite  you, 
living,  with  the  source  of  your  birth  as  a  rite  addressed 
to  the  impress  of  present  impurity,  rather  than  to  the 
spirit  of  regeneration  that  seeks  to  redeem  itself  from 
the  embargo  weight  of  mortality  ?  The  God  of  Is 
rael  proclaimed  that,  as  fallen  mortals,  your  skins 
should  be  dressed  in  similitude  with  the  beasts  of  the 
field ;  but  you  have  now  become  so  degenerated  that 
only  a  bare  vestige  of  this  provision  remains,  while 
with  our  re-endowment  we  feel  ourselves  abundantly 
clothed,  and  never  so  free  from  shame  as  when  we  are 
free  in  the  forest  glade,  dressed  in  the  native  costume 
to  which  we  were  to  the  fashion  born/ 

Lawress — "  '  It  appears  to  me,  from  your  own  rela 
tion,  that  you  must  be  in  a  worse  condition  than  the 
pagans  and  infidels  ;  for  you  not  only  ignore  the  re 
ligious  ceremonial  rites  of  salvation,  but  law  and  gos 
pel,  to  sustain  which  we  all  glory  in  making  our  bodies 
martyrs  to  faith,  and  esteem  our  reason  as  nothing  but 
an  aggravation,  that  withholds  us  from  the  immacu 
late  effulgence  of  our  divine  Master.  Heaven  and 
hell,  without  courts  of  justice  and  equity,  for  plead 
ings  and  counter-pleadings,  to  sustain  writs  of  re- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  105 

demption,  condemnation,  and  inheritance  installations, 
would  be  abodes  of  intolerable  chaos  and  anarchy, 
scarcely  preferable  to  the  misery  entailed  with  our 
present  existence.  To  my  understanding,  you  simply 
vegetate  with  vitality,  but  not  with  the  consonant  in 
tention  decreed  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  excite 
ments  of  our  sinful  state  of  probation  and  prayerful 
rites.  Your  pleading  preference  for  a  state  in  abso 
lute  alliance  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  argues  a  like 
degradation,  and  in  capability  a,  total  lack  of  the  god 
like  virtues  necessary  for  the  just  appreciation  of  our 
evangelical  attributes  of  a  faith  that  can  remove 
mountains  which  oppose  stumbling-blocks  to  our  pro 
gressive  Christian  motto,  Excelsior  ! ' 

Convert — "  'Pardon  me,  madam,  but  we  claim, with  the 
proof,  that  there  is  an  appreciative  difference  in  the 
creative  caste  of  tails  for  the  expression  of  instinctive 
emotions,  as  well  as  faith  distinctions.  Our  Indian 
mythology  has  transmitted  its  tradition,  direct,  of  a 
happy  state  of  suspension  enjoyed  by  our  first  parents' 
progenitors;  and  we  worship  the  tail  as  of  a  higher 
date,  as  a  source  of  purity,  than  the  sinful  bodies  from 
which  it  separated.  You  are  dependant  upon  faith 
for  the  faint  perception  that  you  retain  of  the  blissful 
state  enjoyed  by  your  first  parents  before  their  fall; 
still,  you  are  willing  to  acknowledge  that  some,  by 
the  special  influence  of  divine  grace,  have  been  en 
abled  to  obtain  a  clearer  insight  into  the  soil-inspiring 
agency  of  this  lost  source  of  contentment  than  others. 
Now  if  you  are  willing  to  suffer,  with  knowledge  and 
experience,  the  martyrdom  cf  folly,  and  envious  dis 
content,  with  the  body's  diseased  degradation,  from 
artificial  memorial  sacrifices,  }TOU  can  judge  of  our 
gratitude  for  the  initial  means  of  salvation  that  the 
orang  missionaries  have  discovered  for  tail  revival 
from  the  ante-germ-manic  resources  of  our  own 
bodies.  Gentle  simplicity,  purity,  confidence,  grate 
ful  reciprocation,  and  kindred  current  manifestations, 
have  proved  a  source  of  realization  for  the  abridgment 
of  faith,  which  you  have  substituted  for  the  actual  en- 


106  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

joyment  of  our  primal  inheritance;  and,  notwithstand 
ing  our  present  limited  means  for  the  full  expression 
of  caudal  happiness,  we  are  humbly  thankful  that  it 
has  opened  a  way  for  a  more  perfect  regeneration  of 
our  posterity,  whose  tailful  prehensile  powers,  with 
the  adorning  grace  of  reconversion,  may  again  be  en 
abled  to  lay  hold  of  the  promises  for  a  higher  evolu 
tion  in  angelic  flight  to  the  silent  realms  of  peaceful 
enactment.  If  you  could  but  realize,  my  dear  sister 
lawress,  the  initial  joys  of  our  partial  reconversion, 
which  would  render  your  artificial  memorial  oblations, 
raised  on  the  altar  of  faith,  embarrassing,  and  an  ag 
gravation  to  peaceful  contentment,  the  voice  modula 
tions  of  your  tongue,  in  argument,  would  give  place 
to  the  realization  of  a  caudial  source  of  happiness, 
that  would  forever  banish  the  word  litigations  of  law 
legislation.  That  your  posterity  may  enjoy  a  realiz 
ing  sense  of  this  documentary  evidence  of  primal  con 
tentment,  is  my  caudial  wish;  as  it  will  usher  in  a 
period  for  the  abatement  of  word  provocations,  and 
quarrelsome  reprisals,  by  affording  a  source  of  amuse 
ment  for  the  thoughtless,  subject  to  self-evolution,  in 
dependent  of  dancing  and  congregation  association 
for  while-away  pastimes;  or  if  seriously  disposed,  it 
will  offer  itself  as  a  subject  of  contemplation,  as  the 
defunct  source  of  human  woes,  and  the  means  of  sal 
vation.  Indeed,  my  dear  sisters,  with  my  limited 
powers  of  expression,  I  can  assure  you  that  this  germ- 
manic  source  of  contentment,  is  infinitely  superior,  for 
the  realization  of  true  solace,  to  the  utmost  capability 
of  succedaneum  faith  founded  upon  artificial  resorts, 
and  ritual  ceremonies!' 

"With  this  valedictory  exhortation,  my  son  left  the 
committees  and  commissioners  of  introduction  and  in 
vestigation,  abruptly;  as  he  found  that  female  curiosity 
with  a  bustling  desire  for  vain  professional  prominence 
prompted  them  to  seek  an  interview,  rather  than  that 
to  be  derived  from  a  legitimate  wish  to  confer  the  ben 
efits  of  reconversion,  in  a  systematic  way,  upon  the 
generations  of  posterity. 

'•But  the  doctress,  in  conducting  him  from  the  confer 
ence  room,  requested,  in  a  professional  way,  the  privi- 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        107 

lege  of  personal  verification  and  scientific  identification, 
for  the  establishment  of  a  new  order  upon  which  to 
found  a  classification  for  appreciable  regeneration; 
making  length  and  prehensile  tendency  the  emotional 
basis  for  the  restitution  of  the  ancient  and  honorable 
seat  of  sensibility  to  its  pristine  integrity,  as  it  existed 
before  denudation,  invited  the  spanking  era  of  correc 
tion,  designed  as  an  inductive  aid  for  developing  the 
center  of  gravity  and  upright  attainments  in  knowl 
edge.  But  Convert's  sectarian  sensitiveness  had  been 
touched  by  the  formulistic  selfishness  of  prudery,  and 
real  indifference  shown  for  the  realization  of  benefits 
to  be  conferred  upon  future  generations,  so,  much  to 
her  chagrin,  he  refused  her  petition  and  departed." 


After  the  Mother  of  Convert  Babi  had  Finished  Her 
Relation  of  Her  Son's  Experience,  I  returned  to  my  cot 
tage,  fully  impressed  with  the  realities  ascribed  to  the 
ante-dote  for  the  succedaneutn  use  of  faith  as  the  agent 
for  a  new  birth,  and  made  the  following  entry  in  my 
diary : 

"LESLIE  HOLM. — Notwithstanding  the  apparent  air  of 
trustful  confidence  that  seems  to  extend  through  all  the 
varied  grades  of  animality,  inhabiting  the  valleys  of 
Saar  Soong,  there  appears  to  be  an  under-current  that 
as  yet  baffles  my  understanding.  Although  subject  to 
its  influence,  the  residents  do  not  pretend  that  it  is 
preternatural,  or  in  any-wise  a  source  of  wonder,  but 
seem  to  rely  upon  its  influence  as  a  guide  for  direction. 
Of  its  character,  I  am  at  present  unable  to  determine; 
but  it  appears  from  the  impression  that  I  have  received 
to  be  dependent  upon,  if  not  the  exciting  cause  of,  pe 
culiar  moods  of  thought,  which  are  inclined  to  travesty 
with  the  reflection  that  the  knowledge  gained  by  Eve's 
experimental  taste  was  theo-reMcal,  and  in  sequence, 
that  its  results  will  always  depend  upon  hope  for  the 
future  development  of  faith  for  the  accomplishment  of 
miracles  for  the  final  redemption  of  mankind  from  self- 
imposed  stupidity.  In  contradistinction  to  this  endless 
chain  of  disjunctive  ifs,  the  residents  are  pre-eminently 


108  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

practical  in  the  development  of  happy  results,  and  find 
within  themselves  a  constant  resource  for  the  rayed 
expression  of  contentment,  which  is  imparted  to  all  in 
freedom  from  speech,  demonstration  and  professions 
of  friendship.  Although,  in  seeming  independence  of 
each  other's  special  care,  no  want  or  suggestion  neces 
sary  for  the  reciprocation  of  happy  impressions  is  ever 
neglected. 

"The  impression  conveyed  by  the  Leslie  narrative 
of  Saar  Soong,  and  the  supposed  reunion  of  the 
sinless  Orangs  with  their  sinful  descendants  of  the  hu 
man  type,  appears  to  have  had  its  origin  from  the  re 
semblance  produced  by  association  and  missionary  la 
bors  of  the  Gibbons  to  produce  conformity  in  habits 
and  ritual  observances.  But  this  transforming  effect 
has  been  so  successful  in  result  that  I  find  it  hard  to 
relieve  myself  of  the  impression  that  the  converts  were 
not  to  the  manor  born.  Yet,  upon  reflection,  memory 
furnishes  me  with  the  evidence  that  the  children  of  a 
village  or  city  have  been  transformed  into  apes  by  imi 
tating  the  motions  and  language  grimaces  of  a  caged 
family  of  monkeys  attached  to  a  menagerie,  after  a  sin 
gle  visit,  which  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  pre 
disposition  of  humanity  to  return  to  their  original 
happy  state.  If  we  add  to  this  ruling  effect  pro 
duced  upon  children,  the  influence  known  to  exist 
with  mothers  for  the  controlling  impression  of  sympa 
thetic  reproduction  in  the  sinless  likeness  of  their  an 
tecedents,  combined  with  their  persistent  ceremonial 
imitations  of  a  tailful  state,  and  its  impression  upon 
the  head  when  it,  in  transition,  became  the  seat  of 
knowledge,  a  confirmatory  chain  of  hereditary  evi 
dence  is  established  that  renders  belief  absolute, 
without  the  aid  of  faith.  It  also  appears  from  the  re 
lation  of  Convert's  mother  that  the  foster-ties  of  at 
tachment  established  by  the  Orangs  prove  more 
vivid  and  lasting  than  those  of  nature  under  the  pa 
tronage  of  sinful  bequeathment.  Again,  I  am  forced 
to  admit,  with  the  truthful  judgment  of  conviction, 
that  the  contrast  in  the  litterary  tendencies  of  the  sin 
less  and  sinful  species  of  progenitorial  humanity, 
abundantly  corroborates  the  scriptural  relation  of  cause 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  109 

and  effect  produced  by  transgression.  For  the  happy 
family  of  Orangs  are  almost  exempt  from  the  diseases 
and  self-imposed  casualties  that  are  constantly  reduc 
ing  the  span  of  mortal  existence,  and  yet  they  do  not 
number  hundreds  to  their  disobedient  cousins'  mil 
lions.  This  fact  exemplifies  the  potency  of  the  de 
nouncement  of  multiplication,  as  triplets  and  quartets 
are  no  longer  a  matter  of  surprise  as  the  litterary  pro 
ducts  of  labor  with  our  race;  while  with  theirs  the 
paucity  of  births  affords  them  the  grateful  opportunity 
of  bestowing  missionary  labors  upon  the  infantile 
progeny  of  humanity  for  their  reconversion  into  the 
initial  similitude  of  the  careless  state  of  contentment 
enjoyed  by  our  first  parents  before  their  fall.  Whether 
from  my  former  garden  association  with  an  inferior 
type  of  the  Orang  family,  or  from  a  real  appreciation 
of  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  long-tailed  Gibbons 
chang  of  Saar  Soong,  or  from  an  inspired  perception 
of  renewed  faith  made  glorious  with  the  knowledge 
that  our  fallen  condition  is  not  hopeless,  I  am  now 
enabled  to  participate  in  the  reverential  respect  shown 
by  the  Malabar  coolies  in  worshipful  regard  for  these 
representatives  of  contentment  who  do  not  require 
faith  to  lay  hold  of  the  promises  for  self-sustaining 
suspension.  Formerly  it  was  one  of  the  hardest  pos 
sible  tasks  that  came  within  the  scope  of  my  Christian 
duties,  to  furnish  others  with  faith  sufficient  for  a  be 
lief  in  impossibilities,  but  now  my  leisure  moments 
find  abundant  occupation  in  the  charitable  supply  of 
caudal  endowments  to  all  my  friends  who  lack  these 
suitable  appendages  of  redeeming  grace,  and  it  is 
strange  what  a  wonderful  adaptation  of  means  to  ends 
and  purposes  in  life  they  effect  for  the  fulfillment  of 
intention.  But  hark!  the  Soong-tee's  warbling  notes 
summon  my  attention  from  the  trellis  vine  of  my 
window,  while  his  soft  hazel  eye  inquires,  with  a  look 
of  tender  regard,  whether  I  am  lonesome  and  would 
like  to  be  cheered  with  an  evening  carol,  or  would 
like  to  enjoy  a  little  affectionate  amusement  as  an  ap 
petizing  zest  for  the  approaching  evening  meal  ? 


110  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  Well,  I  was  in  that  loving- vision  mood  in  which  real 
communion  can  be  held  with  the  peopled  realms  of 
immortality,  where  joyous  beams  are  never  opposed 
by  clouds  in  the  storm-bursts  of  contention;  so  I 
winked,  with  a  smile,  my  request  for  a  song,  and  forth 
with  he  flooded  my  room  with  such  a  melodious  out 
pouring  of  harmony  that  I  became  entranced  with  glad 
emotions,  which  were  rayed  with  cadences  that  in 
voked  me  from  the  bondage  of  my  body's  soil  to  be 
come  tributary  to  their  choir  of  affection.  When  the 
soong-tee's  refrain  closed  with  a  warbling  echo,  a  sigh 
of  regret  recalled  me  to  myself,  while  Hope  lingered 
for  some  token  of  recognition.  This  deferred,  I  cher 
ished  the  exciting  herald  for  a  future  and  more  success 
ful  repetition.  Ah,  what  gladness  the  affectionate  in 
stincts  of  a  bird  can  convey  for  the  solace  of  sympa 
thy!  and  with  what  sadness  did  memory  revert  to  the 
passages  in  the  past  pages  of  the  day  scenes  of  life 
to  catch  some  impression  of  affectionate  regard  in 
equivalent  expression  for  the  intelligent  endowment  of 
humanity  that  should  make  immortality  a  reality  for 
present  enjoyment!  But  what  baseless  fabrics  and 
how  gloom  shadowed  the  funeral  procession  of  dust  to 
dust!  with  scarce  a  reviving  spark  as  a  flitting  star- 
beacon  and  guide  to  the  eternal  realms  of  life's  im 
mortality.  It  is  thus  that  the  fulness  of  present  joy 
makes  me  desirous  to  gather  from  the  past  tokens  for 
future  reciprocation." 


Our  evening  table  scene  was  varied  with  new  faces; 
but  the  same  joyous  unity  held  control,  and  exalted 
the  faculties  above  the  indulgence  of  appetite  into  the 
current  stream  of  gladness,  causing  a  flow  of  genial 
repartee  in  suggestive  reproof  of  the  day's  deviations 
from  the  course  of  rectitude,  with  an  occasional  glance 
of  contrast  to  the  civilized  world's  revolutions  of  faith 
in  the  phantom  pursuit  of  vestige  impressions  of  their 
lost  estate. 

My  attention  had  been  so  completely  engrossed  with 
the  frank  inquiries  of  a  young  female  visitor,  addressed 
to  the  mother  of  Convert  Babi,  that  I  did  not  observe 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATKA.  Ill 

the  presence  of  Father  Odorat  and  the  Rev.  Benedict 
Rantkin  until  Mr.  Leslie  1st  premised  the  repast  re- 
trato,  or  descriptive  entertainment,  by  a  general  intro 
duction. 

He  then  stated  that  the  district  known  as  Saar 
Soong  was  occupied  by  six  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  nineteen  residents,  who  derived  support  from  its 
cultivation,  and  lived  in  harmony  under  the  rule  of 
self-legislation,  and  were  more  willing  to  confer  than 
receive  favors  from  strangers;  while  in  circulation 
among  themselves  there  was  an  abiding  currency  of 
affection  that  was  a  realizing  source  of  grateful  confi 
dence  and  reciprocation.  But  as  an  increasing  curi 
osity  was  attracting  strangers,  who  came  to  test  the 
validity  of  their  reputed  self-governing  and  happy 
discretion,  he  would  announce  that  they  held  them 
selves  solely  responsible  to  example  for  the  demon 
stration  of  their  impartial  and  loving  resources.  Yet, 
as  they  were  in  their  daily  occupation  inclined  tc  silent 
meditation  as  a  source  of  approved  direction  in  asso 
ciation,  it^became  necessary  to  adopt  some  method  for 
the  initiation  of  their  visitors  into  the  sought-for  "  ec 
centricities"  which  had  drawn  them  hitherward. 

For  the  purpose  of  fulfilling  this  demand  they 
had  been  in  the  custom  of  giving  a  conversational  re- 
trato,  or  portrait  of  their  habits,  and  influence  engen 
dered  in  association,  at  the  close  of  their  evening  re 
past,  as  a  prelude  to  the  garden  chata.  Although 
they  abjured  argument  as  the  blind  source  of  obsti 
nacy,  that  added  darkness  to  abstruse  obscurity,  stran 
gers  in  search  of  happiness  would  find  them  ever 
ready  to  demonstrate  and  illustrate  with  example  their 
present  affectionate  resources  ;  with  their  tendency 
for  a  constantly  increasing  degree  of  refined  perfec 
tion  in  attainment.  In  reciprocation,  they  required 
their  guests  to  conform  in  habit  and  custom,  as  they 
could  rest  assured  that  every  consistent  effort  would 
be  made  to  render  their  sojourn  useful  and  agreeable. 
"We  endeavor,'3  he  continued,  "to  discharge  our  obliga 
tions  to  the  Creator  by  acting  consistently  ;  in  accord 
ance  with  the  manifestations  bestowed  for  our  direc 
tion  ;  well-advised  that  any  attempt  to  overstep  the 


112  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

limits  of  His  ever-present  decrees  will  result  in  our 
Babel  reduction  to  the  state  of  contention  that  holds 
ruling  sway  with  civilized  as  well  as  the  savage  ele 
ments  of  mortality.  As  your  religiously  fashionable 
votaries  of  civilized  progression  hold  congregated  as 
sociation  as  essential  for  salvation,  we  shall  for  the 
present  conform  to  your  customs,  until  we  are  enabled 
to  demonstrate  more  at  large  the  practicability  of  our 
resources  for  assured  happiness.  Notwithstanding  it  is 
sorely  against  our  natures  to  offend  the  most  absurd 
victims  of  self-imposed  afflictions,  who  honestly  con 
sider  that  they  have  a  right  to  make  themselves  mis 
erable  and  extend  the  instinctive  contagion  of  their 
leprosy  to  all  susceptible  to  its  effects,  we  consider  it 
our  duty  to  use  a  remedy  that  we  know  will  prove,  in 
test,  effectual  for  the  eradication  of  the  disease.  As 
the  morbid  growth  has  a  chronic  standing  coeval  with 
the  first  cause  of  transgression,  we  cannot  expect  a 
speedy  cure  for  the  faith  in  quackery  it  has  engen 
dered;  more  than  we  can  for  the  material  reproduction 
of  the  lost  member,  represented  by  succedaneum 
faith,  under  the  inspiration  of  redeeming  grace.  Still, 
as  we  enjoy  a  happy  unity  in  our  soil  representation  of 
humanity  in  Saar  iSoong,  we  feel  enjoined  to  use  our 
talent  for  its  extension,  in  self-defense,  for  we  have 
the  bloody  slot  of  religious  persecution  to  remind  us 
that  in  disposition  it  would  not  only  exterminate  us 
bodily  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  but  endeavor  with 
pretext  to  hold  our  immortal  affections  as  a  forfeit  to 
their  hellish  greed  for  heretic  reprisal.  All  that  dis 
tempered  meanness  could  do,  with  the  power,  has 
been  done  to  vindicate  the  right  of  a  ruling  minority 
to  subjugate  the  laboring  majority  to  penal  servitude, 
wrought  out  by  self-inflicted  disability  from  imposed 
penances  held  in  balance  for  the  phantom  choice  of 
heaven  or  hell  under  their  special  devisement;  even 
in  New  England,  where  the  pilgrim  fathers  vindicated 
their  right  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  their  own  conscience^  which  virtually  condemned 
their  Indian  benefactors  to  extermination,  from  prov 
ocations  instigated  with  like  motives  to  those  demon 
strated  by  Eussia  in  her  recent  holy  war  with  Turkey. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  113 

Christian  clemency  looks  upon  the  'poor  misguided 
men  of  reason/  with  the  pitying  eyes  of  the  crocodile 
whose  jaws  and  tail  are  ready  to  indoctrinate  him  into 
the  strait  and  narrow  way  that  leads  to  eternal  life. 

"  But  how  different  from  the  caudal  tokens  of  fellow 
ship  offered  by  our  orang  missionaries  to  the  infants  of 
their  disobedient  human  cousins!  Instead  of  cultivat 
ing  with  hellish  faith  the  vengeful  tail  and  jaws  of  the 
saurian  prototype  of  religious  fanaticism,  they  with 
gentle  hands  coax  from  its  contracted  source  the  ante- 
germ-manic  tail,  which  had  been  sacrificed  by  our  ra 
cial  Eves  for  the  gratification  of  vain  desire !  Although, 
in  initial  reproduction,  it  fails  to  impart  the  spiritual 
influence  of  contentment  that  inspired  our  first  parents, 
before  their  fall,  with  an  abounding  grace  for  a  higher 
flight  in  evolution,  it  serves  as  a  material  index  to  faith 
in  its  backward  course  of  search  for  the  saintful  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect,  in  the  full-fledged  glory  of 
the  original  conception.  As  a  preventive  means  for 
the  preservation  of  the  entailed  muscles  and  caudal 
gland,  from  the  aggravating  spanking  incentives  to  an 
upright  walk,  that  inflamed  tbe  infantile  ire  of  Cain 
with  vengeful  hatred  against  his  favored  brother  Abel 
— who  had  been  spared  these  stern  reminders  of  adap 
tation  to  laboring  necessity — it  has  proved,  as  with 
him,  a  gentle  source  of  pleading  deprecation.  All  the 
Caucasian  neophytes,  as  well  as  the  Mongolian  and 
Polynesian,  who  have  been  subjected  to  the  reconvert 
ing  agency  of  the  Gibbons  missionaries,  have  shown 
such  an  accession  of  natural  affection,  that  we  can  no 
longer  doubt  its  original  seat  as  the  source  of  intelli 
gent  expression."  [Addressing  Father  Odorat  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Eantkin.}  "It  pleases  me  to  learn  that  you 
have  volunteered  yourselves  to  become  witnesses  of  the 
'  exceeding  great  joy '  we  have  derived  from  works 
retranslated  from  the  original  seat  of  an  abiding  faith, 
which  in  curtail  brought  knowledge  and  counter-ex 
perience  into  the  world  for  the  multiplication  of  woe. 

"  Well  aware  that  your  attachment  to  each  other  is 
of  the  order  styled  repulsive  cohesion,  which  seeks  to 
counteract,  by  opposing  the  influence  of  your  individ 
ual  labors  in  your  lord's  vineyards  for  the  fruitful  illus- 


114     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

tration  of  theoretical  ordinances  derived  from  the 
same  source,  we  shall  hold  you  subject  to  our  exposi 
tion  before  we  give  you  free  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
your  proselyting  abilities. 

"  As  your  zeal  for  counter-labor  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  abated  from  your  sad  experience  in  Borneo, 
we  shall  hold  you  in  probation,  for  your  own  good, 
that  you  may  be  enabled  to  discover  whether  the  hu 
man  soils  of  Saar-Soong  are  adapted  to  your  style  of 
cultivation. 

"  We  hold,  with  the  exampled  proof,  that  happiness 
can  only  be  derived,  and  disseminated,  from  unity,  in 
dividualized  with  thought-adaptation  for  associate  con 
tentment;  and  that  speech,  with  legitimate  intention, 
should  be  made  to  subserve  as  its  currency  for  the  ex 
pression  of  harmony.  But  from  your  assumed  mission 
ary  labors  and  teachings,  language  is  used  for  contro 
versial  opposition,  and  is,  in  fact,  made  to  enact  the 
part  of  agent  for  demonstrating  the  repulsive  cohesion 
of  selfishness  devoted  to  sectarianism. 

"From  exact  knowledge,  obtained  through  the  tested 
balance  of  experience,  we  have  practically  learned  that 
in  conversation  the  parties  speak  from  impulsive  im 
pression,  and  are  rarely,  if  ever,  coherent,  even  when 
the  subject  has  been  matured  with  thought  anticipa 
tion;  for  the  individuality  of  the  world  has  become  so 
partisan  in  spirit,  from  long  usage,  that  theory  and 
practice  are  widely  separated  in  the  '  economy '  of 
speaking  and  acting  in  the  same  individual.  The  effect 
of  this  dissonance  results  from  the  deference  paid  to 
leaders  and  expounders,  who  use  language  as  a  blind 
for  the  concealment  of  their  own  ignorance;  their  suc 
cess  depending  upon  the  attractive  use  of  words  and 
sentences  as  a  diversion  to  cover  their  want  of  under 
standing  for  a  clear  demonstration.  In  apt  illustra 
tion  of  this  fashionable  defect  patronized  by  public 
speakers  as  a  latent  resource  to  be  used  in  emergency, 
I  will  relate  an  instance  to  the  point. 

"Doctor  Olu  and  myself  landed  at  Boston,  the 
styled  Athens  of  America,  when  we  sought  relief 
from  travel  for  domestic  bereavement. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN  SUMATRA.  115 

4 'Among  our  letters  of  introduction  was  one  ad 
dressed  to  Dr.  J.  V.  C.  S.,  who  was  then  in  the  height 
of  his  popularity  as  a  lecturer  to  lyceurns,  a  source  of 
'knowledge'  which  was  becoming  fashionable  for 
evening  entertainment  at  the  period  of  our  visit.  He 
had  just  returned  from  an  official  visit  to  an  island 
hospital  of  the  harbor,  on  the  afternoon  when  we  pre 
sented  ourselves,  and  letter,  for  his  kind  reception. 

"Although  we  received  a  most  cordial  greeting,  itwas 
easy  to  discover  that  a  letter  he  was  reading  when  we 
entered,  was  a  missive  of  anxiety,  so  we  apologized 
and  were  about  to  withdraw,  which  caused  him  to 
frankly  avow  the  source  of  his  trouble. 

"'This  letter/  he  said,  'is  an  urgent  request  for  me 
to  deliver  a  lecture  before  the  lyceum  at  W-b — n,  and 
it  warns  me  that  disappointment  would  be  unpardon 
able;  as  it  is,  by  special  decree,  for  the  anniversary  cele 
bration  of  its  foundation.  The  cause  of  my  embar 
rassment  is,  that  I  have  delivered,  in  course,  all  my 
prepared  lectures  before  them;  and  have  but  an  hour 
to  reach  the  cars;  and  am  at  utter  loss  for  a  subject 
that  will  enable  me  to  afford  them  satisfaction  upon  an 
occasion  so  important  to  their  expectations.5 

"As  strangers,  we  could  suggest  no  means  of  ex 
trication,  but  left  on  the  moment,  as  the  best  assur 
ance  we  could  give  in  aid  for  his  success;  promising  to 
call  on  the  morrow  to  learn  the  result  of  his  im 
promptu  effort, 

"We  found  him,  on  the  following  morning,  highly 
elated;  and  he  at  once  proceeded  to  give  us  an  ac 
count  of  his  lecture  expedition  and  dernier  expedient 
that  resulted  in  success. 

"  'After  you  left,  I  hurried  home,  seized  a  night-shirt, 
and  newspaper,  and  had  just  succeeded  in  making  a 
secure  wrap  of  the  former  with  the  latter,  when,  with 
extra  exertion,  I  gained  a  seat  in  the  moving  train. 
But  the  half-way  station  found  me  in  greater  per 
plexity  than  when  I  started,  and  in  despair  I  was 
about  to  conjure  words  for  a  satisfactory  apology; 
when  my  eye  encountered  the  paragraph  heading: 
"The  Artesian  W^ll  of  Grenelle,"  in  a  few  moments  I  be 
came  completely  absorbed  in  its  perusal.  As  it  was  the 


116  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

first  description  of  the  process  of  Artesian  well-boring  I 
had  ever  read,  and  had  no  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
the  mechanical  adjuncts  used,  it  took  me  a  long  time 
to  form  an  idea  of  the  possible  method  of  procedure. 
But  when  the  committee  of  arrangements  saluted  me 
on  our  arrrival  at  the  terminal  depot,  my  memory  had 
converted  all  the  technical  terms  of  the  newspaper 
wrapper  paragraph  to  its  use,  as  the  foundation  for 
my  evening's  lecture.  With  a  clear  understanding 
that  my  success  depended  upon  extreme  fluency,  I 
commenced  with  a  geological  description  of  the 
strata  encountered,  and  when  I  had  sufficiently  con 
fused  the  large  audience,  and  had  myself  become 
well  warmed  for  invention,  I  commenced  boring,  and 
in  an  hour  and  a  half  had  reached  the  depth  of  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  feet,  and  closed 
my  lecture,  receiving  salvos  of  applause  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  description;  and  when  I  descended  from 
the  rostrum,  endured  such  a  round  of  hand-shaking, 
and  congratulations,  that  I  became  tired  and  dizzy, 
and  was  thankful  when  my  reverend  host  bade  me 
good-night,  with  the  parting  compliment:  'Well, 
doctor,  you  have  done  yourself  great  honor,  for  they 
all  say  that  your  lecture  to-night  surpassed  all  your 
previous  efforts  in  perspicuity  and  clearness  of  descrip 
tion!'  Of  course,  I  could  return  their  congratulations 
with  interest;  if  they  possessed  sufficient  penetration 
to  discover  from  my  description  the  complicated  means 
employed  to  sink  a  shaft,  with  valve  drills,  to  so  great 
a  depth;  for  with  the  advantage  of  a  working  demon 
stration  I  fear  that  my  mechanical  genius  would  fail  to 
comprehend  the  necessary  changes  required  to  over 
come  the  obstacles.' 

"As  we  were  traveling  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the 
ruling  motives  of  the  world  of  mankind,  we  were 
obliged  to  commend  his  skill  in  the  use  and  adapta 
tion  of  language  for  the  successful  enlistment  of  his 
hearers'  faith  in  the  belief  that  he  imparted  to  them  a 
clear  and  tangible  description  of  the  process  of  well- 
boring;  while  he,  in  fact,  was  sifting  word-sentences 
through  his  memory  for  their  beguilement,  which  had 
only  an  accidental  bearing  in  approach  to  reality. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  117 

But,  as  he  related  the  circumstances  as  an  illustration 
of  fashionable  infatuation  in  search  of  an  amusing 
path  to  practical  faith  in  knowledge,  as  well  as  to  show 
his  understanding  and  ability  to  cope  with  human 
nature  as  a  leader  for  congregated  self-imposition,  we 
simply  questioned  his  impressions  with  regard  to  the 
effect  likely  to  be  produced  by  kindred  example  on  the 
part  of  public  teachers? 

' '  In  answer  he  referred  us  to  Bible  teachings  and 
teachers,  which  he  said  were  in  fact  the  models  that 
had  opened  to  him  the  way  for  successful  competition 
in  the  art  of  humoring  the  public  as  a  guide  to  self- 
infatuation  and  submission  to  faith  in  the  past  as  a 
beacon  for  the  future.  This  self-imposed  servitude  of 
the  masses  to  the  leading  minority  could  only  be  hu 
mored  to  keep  in  the  beaten  track  by  faith  in  the  par 
doning  grace  of  eloquence  for  the  exposition  of  the 
special  advantages  of  opposing  sectarian  pathways  to 
happiness  here  and  hereafter. 

"In  answer  to  our  inquiry  whether  an  honest  de 
monstration  of  self-control  for  the  adaptation  of  their 
wants  to  the  simple  requirements  of  nature  for  self- 
support  in  healthy  and  happy  association  would  not 
afford  a  more  desirable  and  beneficent  source  of  direc 
tion  for  his  ability,  he  said  that  the  commonality  spoke 
and  acted  in  association  from  impulse,  and  never  re 
ferred  a  debatable  subject  to  their  own  judgment  for 
elucidation,  but  submitted  it  to  the  reverend  or  his 
own  class  for  settlement;  and  their  decisions  were  gen 
erally  admitted  without  a  self-question  of  validity  or 
an  endeavor  to  gain  from  their  own  resources  further 
information. 

"  We  suggested,  in  a  questionable  form,  the  possi 
bility  of  effecting  a  change  in  habits  which,  from  long 
proof,  were  known  to  be  fallacious  as  a  source  of  happy 
impression  and  realization,  and  related  our  own  suc 
cessful  efforts  for  the  restraint  of  ultra  savage  natures' 
and  the  inception  of  a  thoughtful  era  for  self-im 
provement.  After  a  thoughtful  silence,  he,  with  a 
smile,  pointed  to  a  patient  in  his  receiving-room 
whose  face  was  fearfully  scarred,  and  stated  that  he 


118  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

was  a  mule-tamer,  and  that  the  scars  were  the  grateful 
perquisites  of  his  profession. 

"But  in  answer  to  our  inquiries  for  a  pleasant 
country-place  of  sojourn,  where  we  could  learn  from 
a  fair  representation  the  habits  and  customary  rites  of 

New  England,  he  referred  us  to  the  village  of  S 

R ,  within  the  suburban  limits  of  the  city's  influ 
ence. 

"  We  found  the  village  pleasantly  located  between 
two  small  lakelets,  with  a  surrounding  scenery  surpas 
singly  beautiful,  and  expected  to  find  the  inhabitants 
favorably  impressed  with  the  generous  frankness  of 
nature  That  we  might  not  excite  the  inquisitive  curi 
osity  of  the  inhabitants,  of  whose  speculative  tenden 
cies  we  had  been  forewarned,  we  obtained  lodging  en 
tertainment  at  a  distance  from  the  business  centre; 
and  my  companion,  through  fear  of  exciting  their  spas 
modic  sympathies  for  his  redemption  from  imaginary 
c  bondage  of  sin,  flesh,  and  the  devil/  on  a  Sunday  or 
'  Sabbath-day/  as  it  was  designated  in  the  reverential 
religious  nomenclature  of  New  England,  held  himself 
with  pagan  reserve  aloof  from  their  congregations. 
But  this  did  not  save  him  from  their  officious  desire  to 
make  him  a  convert  to  their  sectarian  branches  of 
faith,  for  he  was  visited  by  the  representative  deacons 
of  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  churches;  but  al 
though  he  saw  manifestations  of  tail  faith,  they  were 
contorted  from  the  prehensile  beauty  of  their  original 
orang  attachment  to  the  soil's  contented  purity  of  de 
sire,  and  had  become  adjuvantic  aids  in  sinful  confor 
mation,  and  with  their  pronged  spear-heads  were  made 
the  back  agents  for  the  devilish  reprisal  of  greed. 

"The  Universalist  preacher  made  him  a  formal  visit; 
and  when  he  learned  ;the  vast  superiority  of  Doctor 
Olu's  intelligence,  he  frankly  acknowledged,  '  that  they 
disbelieved,  in  to  to,  the  divine  agency  of  the  Bible, 
but  were  obliged  to  adopt  it  as  a  text-book  in  order 
that  they  might  obtain  a  foothold  within  the  pale  of 
Christianity;  for  when  Murray,  the  originator  of  the 
creed,  first  promulgated  the  doctrine,  the  devil's  horns, 
hoofs  and  tail  were  believed  by  all  true  believers  to  be 
the  special  inheritance  of  the  '  free-thinker/  or  the 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  119 

person  who  would  not  allow  his  nose  and  pocket  to  be 
held  subservient  to  the  thumb  and  finger  trammels  of 
the  Church.  By  the  adoption  of  this  ruse  of  holy  war 
fare  they  had  been  enabled  to  make  convert  prisoners 
of  a  great  number  from  the  kindly  disposed  classes 
who  were  not  inclined  to  foster  dispositions  for  the 
consignment  of  their  honest  neighbors  to  hell  because 
they  would  not  patronize  ridiculous  absurdities  which 
have  served  as  relic  bones  of  contention  from  the  time 
of  their  birth/  Notwithstanding  his  apologetic 
mildness  in  contrast  with  the  autocratic  terms  fulmin 
ated  by  the  deacons,  habit  had  made  him  artificial, 
and  his  views  favored  the  old  system  of  ingrafting  his 
sect's  opinions  rather  than  teaching  his  hearers  the 
necessity  of  holding  within  themselves  an  auditorial 
court  of  advisement  for  their  own  direction. 

"  The  tender  mercies  of  Doctor  Olu's  coolie  nature 
were  very  much  excited  in  behalf  of  the  forlorn  hopes 
of  the  children  of  this  willfully  benighted  people, 
who,  of  a  Sunday,  pursued  their  triangular  faiths 
(their  churches  were  located  at  the  sharp  or  acute 
angles  of  a  common)  to  their  stalls  or  pews,  in 
the  worshiping  corrals  devoted  to  the  arraignment 
and  ordeal  trial  of  opposing  sects  for  consignment  to 
a  brimstone  realm  of  eternal  fire.  On  their  way  to 
the  separate  places  of  worship  neighbors  would  pass 
and  repass  each  other  without  salutation  or  a  nod  of 
recognition,  with  faces  hopefully  enshrouded  in  gloomy 
joy,  as  if,  with  faith  anticipation,  they  were  enabled 
to  realize  the  fulfillment  of  the  auto  da  fe  sentences  of 
their  awful  gala  day  of  the  final  judgment,  and  on 
reaching  our  'rooms '  he  would  tearfully  embrace  me, 
and  then  sink  despondingly  upon  his  evau  (carpet 
seat)  exclaiming,  'Alas!  alewr!  if  they  could  only  feel, 
with  a  tailful  spirit,  the  regenerating  influence  of 
adorning  grace,  sacrificed  by  Adam  and  Eve,  their  first 
parents,  for  the  illusory  gratification  of  knowledge, 
prompted  by  the  desires  of  taste,  what  a  joyful  era  it 
would  prove  for  their  children.  Then,  instead  of  their 
pendu-queue  cast  of  countenance,  looking  downcast 
from  out  their  sinful  soils — with  an  enforced  realiza- 


120  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

tion  of  total  depravity — what   elation,  in   silent   con 
templation,  their  tailful  emotions  would  afford  ? 

"After  visiting  many  other  New  England  towns  in 
search  of  an  indication  of  the  renewed  spirit  of  grace 
sanctified  to  the  end,  we  returned  in  a  despairing  con 
dition  to  Boston,  and  acknowledged,  with  a  sigh — 
when  questioned  by  Dr.  S.  how  we  had  found  things 
in  general — that  his  ideas  of  instruction  were  well 
adapted  to  the  liberal  capacity  of  the  people  for  pro 
gressive  reception,  and  that  they  would  undoubtedly 
fulfill  the  destiny  accomplished  by  Greece  and  Athens, 
their  much  emulated  prototypes,  and  become  martyrs 
to  their  own  zeal  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge." 


Ihe  Retrato  of  Mr.  Leslie  was  listened  to  by  Father 
Odorat  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rantkin  with  emotions  that 
in  expression  indicated  a  phase  of  mind  such  as  we 
should  naturally  expect  to  see  developed  by  two  mon 
omaniacs  who  fancied  themselves  creative  gods,  and 
were  engaged  in  sketching  drafts  of  two  opposition 
worlds  they  intended  to  create  on  the  opposing  wall- 
faces  of  the  rotundo  apartment  of  their  confinement, 
when  in  half-finished  circuit  their  crayons  collided. 
But  it  was  evident  from  the  blank  effect  of  their  sur 
prise,  that  a  sane  scintillation  of  thought  made  them 
realize  the  futility  of  their  schemes. 

A  short  religious  exhortation  by  a  female  Java  par 
rot,  entitled,  "  Stumbling  Blocks/'  in  which  she  dis 
coursed  upon  the  ordinances  of  faith  and  errors  of 
knowledge,  was  followed  by  a  missionary  hymn,  sung 
by  a  choir  of  magpies,  and  the  retrato  closed. 


GARDEN  CHATA. 

Doctor  Olu  having  arrived,  the  guests  were  invited 
to  listen  to  his  garden  discourse,  which  he  premised 
with  an  introductory  explanation  of  its  object,  of 
which  I  will  give  you  an  outline.  In  his  opening  re 
marks,  addressed  to  the  guests,  he  said  it  was  custo- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  121 

mary  with  the  residents  of  Saar  Soong  to  speak  from 
the  advisement  of  previous  thought,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  making  the  subject  of  speech  description  clear 
to  the  understanding,  which  could  not  be  accomplished 
from  the  impulse  of  the  moment. 

"As  to  our  method,  we  hold  that  it  is  just,  to  use 
truth  as  a  caustic  to  cure  the  fungus  assumptions  of 
impudence,  that  seeks  to  impose  the  contagion  of  dis 
eased  poverty  and  humiliation  as  an  heirloom  upon  a 
majority  of  the  human  race,  for  time  and  eternity; 
simply  because  the  records  of  the  past  testify  that 
they  have  been,  from  self-indulgence,  the  blind  devo 
tees  to  superstitions  invoked  from  theories  imposed  by 
the  ruling  selfishness  of  the  minority  from  the  begin 
ning.  We  live  with  the  proof  that  a  reciprocating 
equality,  founded  upon  sympathetic  confidence,  is  a 
self-assuring  evidence  of  creative  approval,  that  re 
quires  no  warrant  from  associate  mortality  as  a  guar 
antee  of  a  happy  future. 

''  To-night  I  shall  speak  of  the  Bible,  and  its  reputed 
God  of  Israel,  as  the  creator  of  its  world,  but  shall  not 
claim  for  it — or  my  interpretation — your  confidence  in 
the  belief  that  either  are  to  be  relied  upon  as  exact  ex 
ponents  of  truth.  For,  as  with  the  Chinese  and  Hindoo 
versions,  it  was  the  object  of  the  priestly  devisers  to  so 
involve  truth,  and  the  reliable  traditions  of  customary 
habits  with  mystery,  that  no  vestige  of  either  should 
appear,  unless  adapted  to  fulfill,  or  subserve,  their 
purposes  for  subjective  oppression.  But  as  the  coinci 
dent  relation  of  the  three,  so-called,  sacred  volumes 
refer  to  a  creative  stage,  or  evolution  of  man  from  a 
previous  state  of  inception,  which  they  supposed  rep 
resented  a  happy  existence  free  from  knowledge  and 
care,  we  will  endeavor,  for  your  benefit,  to  '  reveal ' 
the  probable  evidences  characteristic  of  the  change, 
divested  from  the  priestly  cloud  of  superstition  with 
which  they  are  involved.  Their  creation  of  the  world 
evidently  implies  a  subjective  transformation  on  the 
part  of  the  then  existing  antecedent  representatives  of 
the  human  race,  which,  from  a  cause,  degenerated  from 
a  higher  to  a  lower  stage  of  development,  materially 
6 


122  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

and  otherwise;  and  as  customary  habit  is  a  direct 
record  of  events  modified  in  the  course  of  transmission, 
to  be  revived  again  with  adjunct  characteristics,  pecu 
liar  to  the  influences  of  a  cycle  period,  we  can  cast 
from  the  present  a  comparatively  sure  retrospective 
deduction  of  influences  that  ruled  the  past  from  the 
beginning.  Of  the  utter  worthlessness  of  written  his 
tory,  as  a  vehicle  of  truth,  your  own  experience  can 
attest;  as  prejudice  warps  motives  and  acts  to  favor  an 
ever  increasing  partisan  spirit,  under  the  style  of 
patriotism;  as  the  oppressor  and  oppressed  call  upon 
God  to  vindicate  their  rights.  But  after  a  certain  pe 
riod  has  elapsed  new  versions  with  emendations  beget 
chronological  variations,  and  change  of  actors,  as  well 
as  their  parts  in  scenes  enacted.  Still  the  fact  of  en 
actment  lives  on,  transmitting  the  habits  and  usages 
common  to  the  actors  and  period. 

"  The  miraculous  feats  of  Joshua,  and  Balaam's  ass, 
with  many  others  of  like  import,  bespeak  a  boldness 
of  invention  that  in  transmission  might  have  inspired 
the  authors  of  Baron  Munchausen  and  the  Arabian 
Nights  with  a  spirit  of  emulation;  and  show  conclu 
sively  that  the  modern  representatives  of  the  Hebrew 
race  are  legitimate  types  of  the  ancient  stock.  This 
fanciful  spirit  zeal  for  exaggeration,  at  times  assumes 
the  characteristics  of  prophetic  humor,  in  realization 
of  the  increasing  credulity  of  humanity  from  the  de 
generating  effects  implanted  in  the  soil  of  mortality 
from  the  self-indulgence  of  tasteful  curiosity  by  Eve, 
the  mother  of  disobedience!  For  upon  this  supposition 
alone,  are  we  able  to  account  for  the  gross  absurdities 
which  they  adventured  for  the  fanatical  humiliation  of 
their  peoples  to  become  laboring  drudges,  and  exem 
plars  of  superstitious  servility,  which  in  transmission 
has  reached  the  present  day,  and  holds,  as  then,  ruling 
supremacy.  To  our  understanding,  habit  and  tra 
ditional  custom  reveals  a  truthful  record  which  cannot 
be  gainsaid,  and  corresponds  exactly  with  the  biblical, 
when  divested  of  the  garniture  of  imposed  usage  and 
superflage  of  historical  writers.  In  evidence  of  the 
fact,  we  will  render  a  plain  interpretation  of  the  truth- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  123 

ful  indications  of  the  biblical  record,  sustained  by  the 
transmitted  usages  of  habit  and  custom. 

' '  The  World,  at  the  Period  Developed  by  the  Bible  De 
scription  of  Creation,  and  for  thousands  of  years  subse 
quent,  included  the  limited  space  known  to  the 
traditional  people,  or  writers  of  tablet  hieroglyphics, 
or  word  portrayals  of  passing  events.  For  a  descrip 
tive  counterpart,  the  Cusconian  record  of  the  advent  of 
Mauna  Loa  and  Luna,  the  son  of  the  sun  and  daugh 
ter  of  the  moon,  affords  an  American  parallel,  in  veri 
fication  of  traditional  authority,  establishing  the  lim 
ited  views  of  aboriginal  thought  for  the  conception  of 
creative  power  in  the  magnitude  of  first  degree.  Of 
the  Chinese  and  Hindoo  rendition,  the  moderately 
learned  in  past  usage,  and  traditional  superstitions,  are 
well  acquainted,  and  know  how  closely  they  are  imi 
tated  by  the  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Roman  mythologists. 
The  Egyptian,  as  well  as  those  indicated,  bears  evi 
dence,  with  its  memorial  monuments,  to  the  inhuman 
ity  of  these  gods  of  mortal  devisement,  whose  creations 
are  limited  to  their  overruling  power  for  the  servile 
subjection  of  their  kind  to  the  most  degrading  debase 
ment,  in  utter  disregard  to  the  kindly  sympathies  that 
invoke  an  affectionate  perception  of  the  realities  coex 
istent  with  an  impression  of  immortality.  We  will 
pass  the  specialties  of  Israel's  god  creations,  as  of  too 
trivial  an  invention  to  indicate  any  natural  event,  until 
the  announcement  of  man's  creation  out  of  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  and  the  process  by  which  he  was  made  living 
soil.  At  this  point  there  is  an  implied  distinction  that 
converts  man's  element  of  vitality  into  an  higher  order 
of  worth  than  the  animals  of  the  god's  previous  crea- 
ion;  but  the  source  of  their  vital  endowment  is  not 
specified,  or  quality  distinguished,  while  that  of  man 
was  imparted  directly  from  the  breath  of  his  creator. 
Upon  this  process,  supposed  to  be  a  special  endow 
ment,  the  Hebrew  recorder  has  established  an  alliance 
with  the  created  creator  of  his  devisement;  which  has 
been  rendered,  by  an  evident  misnomer,  soul,  instead 
of  living  soil,  a  designation  intended  to  denote  the 
source  from  which  the  body's  material  was  derived. 


124  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

By  referring  to  the  encyclopedia  of  word  and  habit 
derivations,  this  and  many  similar  ingrafts  will  be 
found  to  render  the  casuistical  object  distinctions  ap 
parent.  It  will,  also,  inform  you  that  Lord  God  was 
used  in  addressing  the  highest  potential  rank  of  Israel- 
itish  designation,  at  a  later  historical  period,  and  was 
equivalent— in  excess  of  our  modern  reverential  phrase, 
your  most  illustrious  Highness— to  an  expression  of 
the  most  abject  submission  of  the  subject  to  the  will 
of  an  absolute  sovereign,  who  can  create  and  destroy. 
Again,  it  was  a  common,  and  in  effect  literal,  expres 
sion  of  a  courtier  in  approaching  the  throne  of  Tippoo 
Saaib,  the  Tiger  of  Mysore,  to  exclaim, — "  by  your 
breath  we  live!" 

"  The  description  of  the  garden  of  Eden  is  altogether 
too  characteristic  of  mortality  to  require  an  explana 
tory  observation.  But  the  name  of  the  first  river, 
Pison,  that  watered  the  garden,  and  encompassed  the 
land  of  Havilah'  'where  there  is  gold/ has  in  derivation 
and  present  usage,  a  peculiarly  characteristic  significa 
tion,  especially  in  connection  with  the  verse  enumera 
tion  of  precious  stones,  as  in  source  and  effect  sugges 
tive  of  cause  or  means  of  punishment  for  the  selfish 
greed  of  disobedient  desire,  manifested  by  your  Israel- 
itish  first  parents.  The  use  made  of  man,  and  restric 
tions  placed  upon  his  acts  by  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
indicates  in  a  potential  degree  the  relations  of  a  su 
preme  master  and  serf  in  the  patriarchal  stage  of  first 
development. 

"The  terms  of  reservation  placed  upon  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  was,  in  char 
acteristic  investment,  a  reflection  of  the  superstitious 
agency  employed  by  potential  priestcraft  for  the  pro 
tection  of  products  designed  for  special  appropriation 
under  the  style  of  property,  in  contradistinction  to 
common  allotment  in  ratio  of  garnered  usage.  In  the 
next  stage  of  relation,  the  Lord  God  said,  it  is  not 
good  for  man  to  be  alone;  I  will  make  a  help  meet 
for  him  ;  and  he  brought  the  beasts  and  fowls  of  the 
air  for  Adam  to  name,  but  did  not  find  among  them  a 
help  meet  for  him  ;  so  he  planned  and  executed  a 
prestegic  surprise,  and  produced  a  woman,  which 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  125 

Adam  in  the  honey-moonshine  of  present  satisfaction 
pronounced  a  bone  of  his  bones,  and  flesh  of  his  flesh; 
and  prophesied  that  man  shall  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  cleave  unto  his  wife;  but  the  relation  of 
father  and  mother  does  not  appear  to  have  been  made 
known  to  him  in  the  context  They  were  clothed  in 
the  then  fashionable  garb  of  nature  known  to  our 
orang  exemplars,  and  were  not  ashamed.  The  suc 
cinct  rendering  of  these  scriptural  passages  of  the 
Israelitish  recorder  would  seem  to  imply  that  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel  was  a  pioneer  settler  in  Ethiopia, 
and  had  passed  the  transition  stage  from  the  pro-his 
toric  orang,  and  after  planting  his  garden  eastward > 
in  Eden,  found  no  subjective  laborers  of  his  own  kind, 
and  proceeded  to  indoctrinate  a  native  oraug  into  the 
office  of  garden-keeper  of  the  fruit  trees.  But  he 
knew  that  in  the  spiritualized  ideas  of  contented 
equality  he  would  not  be  subjected  to  restraint  with 
out  a  companion,  and  with  one,  they  would  not  be  the 
respecters  of  the  rights  of  special  property  reserva 
tion,  in  their  unitized  condition,  from  the  effects  of 
curious  desire,  incited  from  intercourse  and  cultivated 
reflection.  Still,  to  a  master  who  had  been  initiated 
into  the  pains  and  penalties  of  an  upright  position, 
and  walk  upon  the  ground,  holding  in  possession  a 
plantation  of  fruit  trees  upon  which  he  was  depend 
ent  for  daily  support,  a  long  tailed  orang  would  prove 
a  valuable  acquisition,  if  he  could  be  made  to  recog 
nize  the  well-grounded  claims  of  an  inferior  to  hold 
him  in  subjection  as  a  gatherer  of  fruit.  To  accom 
plish  this  important  protective  right  of  reservation  of 
the  choice  fruits  for  his  own  use,  it  became  necessary 
to  impress  his  prototype  keepers  of  the  garden,  with 
the  penalties  of  transgression.  '1  his  was  undoubtedly 
effected  in  the  first  instance  by  warnings  in  the  prim 
itive  language  of  signs,  such  as  I  imposed  upon  our 
aboriginal  descendeuts  before  subjecting  them  to  the 
algaroth  penalty  for  transgression.  But  it  appears, 
from  scriptural  text,  that  the  Lord  God  Master  of  the 
plantation  possessed  a  knowledge  of  the  means  em 
ployed  for  effecting  his  own  tailless  transformation, 
and  had  resolved  to  reduce  them  to  a  like  condition 


126  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE    OF 

if  he  could  not  hold  them  in  tailful  subjection  ;  or  by 
curtailing,  convert  them  to  his  own  likeness,  and  thus 
hold  them  within  reach  of  his  control.  As  in  ^Esop's 
fable  illustrations,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  orientals 
in  '  virtue '  of  originality  in  the  sound  derivation  of 
speech,  from  baa  and  inaa  of  the  kid,  to  furnish  ex 
pression  from  their  own  language  acquirements,  to  the 
animals  who  enacted  counter-parts  in  the  scenes  of  life. 
'  Before  and  after  the  initiatory  education  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  the  serpent  and  Balaam's  ass  afford  notable 
instances  of  this  custom  in  biblical  relation.  In  this 
light  we  must  accept  the  dialoguic  conversation  that  is 
reported  to  have  taken  place  between  the  Lord  God 
Master  and  Adam  and  Eve  after  he  had  reduced  them 
from  full-fledged  tree  flight  to  man  and  woman,  as 
ground-tenants  and  laborers  subject  to  the  toils  and 
turmoils  imposed  by  the  task-master.  The  serpent  is 
metaphorically  made  to  represent  the  credulity— per 
suasive  influence  for  beguilement  and  deceptive  sub 
terfuge  of  woman,  and  in  sentence  truthfully  depicts 
with  prophetic  radiance  the  woes  derived  from  experi 
ence  in  the  path  of  knowledge  by  man.  But  these 
traits,  you  must  recollect,  were  brought  into  play  after 
their  disobedience,  when  they  became  subject  to  the 
barter  influence  of  selfishness,  for  as  we  know,  from 
traveled  observation,  woman's  influence  for  good  or 
evil  is  illimitable  on  either  extreme.  The  signification 
of  words  can  be  easily  traced  to  source  of  derivation, 
as  Pison.  the  name  of  the  river  in  which  gold  and  the 
precious  stones  were  found,  and  we  have  cordial  of 
modern  usage  from  caudal,  the  tail,  a  word  expressing 
warmth  in  kindly  greeting.  Biblical  personal  names 
of  Genesis,  as  well  as  those  which  distinguish  emotions 
and  acts,  discover  a  primitive  period  of  emergence 
from  a  silent  method  of  expression,  and  we  can  readily 
understand  from  the  means  employed  to  impress  in 
fancy  with  the  nominal  relation  of  things  to  useful  and 
other  purposes,  the  source  of  word  distinctions  and 
phrase  jointures  for  sentence  connection  in  the  initial 
stage  of  language  communication.  Indeed,  we  have 
found  in  our  communication  with  the  descendant 
representatives  of  the  tailful  period  of  Adam's  inno- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  127 

cence,  that  this  inductive  method  was  Necessary  to  es 
tablish  a  recognition  of  the  useful  relation  of  sound 
for  the  iudentification  of  objects  and  appliances. 
Hyperbolic  comparison  for  the  illustration  of  intangi 
ble  intention  and  vague  impression  which  follows  as 
a  ruling  license  of  phrase  and  sentence  initiation, 
abounds  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the  Bible's  re 
corded  traditions. 

"  The  sentence  verses,  in  like  manner,  indicate  tablet 
record  from  memorials  of  primitive  tradition;  and  fre 
quent  repetition  shows  the  lack  of  even  this  doubtful 
resource  for  making  apparent,  in  sequence  connection, 
the  events  dimly  shadowed  by  the  primitive  concep 
tions  of  speech.  Even  at  the  present  day,  with  the 
facilities  of  grammatical  expression,  and  condensation 
for  the  voluminous  dispensations  of  'lightning'  print 
ing  presses;  you  find  that  with  the  multiplied  millions 
of  books  issued  in  kind,  the  mathematical  accuracy  of 
your  public  officials  accounts  are  unreliable.  If,  at 
the  present  day,  after  the  recorded  experience  of  un 
told  ages,  you  are  unable  to  realize  the  truth  from 
the  factitious  glossings  of  selfish  deception;  is  it 
reasonable  for  us  to  construe  traditional  records,  of 
uncertain  date  and  authority,  detailed  with  fabled  ab 
surdity,  and  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  evidence  of 
truthful  test,  other  than  by  the  indicatioDS  that  they 
furnish  for  belief? 

' '  Before  we  glean  the  proofs  to  substantiate  the 
transition  of  Adam  from  an  orang  state  of  contentment, 
as  a  tree,  realm  tenant,  it  will  perhaps  prove  more  sat 
isfactory  to  extend  a  cursory  glance  into  the  ruling 
economy  of  the  gradually  developed  contemporary 
races;  which,  if  the  accepted  version  of  the  Christian 
advocates  is  true,  must  have  derived  their  origin  from 
him  as  the  common  father.  From  our  Indian  tradi 
tions,  and  sacred  records  of  a  date  supposed  to  be 
contemporary  with  those  of  biblical  relation,  all  the 
terms  of  godhead,  therein  used,  were  applied  with 
still  greater  extravagance  to  those  in  vogue  with  the 
Israelites.  Idol  representation  of  the  godhead,  for 
the  establishment  of  priestly  intercessors,  with  ritual 
mysteries  for  communication,  were  identical  in  ex- 


128  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

pression;  although  subject  to  caste  and  sectarian 
variations  peculiar  to  the  habits  of  tribes  and  peoples. 
Prophets  and  soothsayers  in  kindred  type  to  Moses  and 
Aaron  were  common,  but  the  infatuations  of  cycle  de 
generation  wrought  more  rapid  changes  and  opposing 
dissensions,  with  the  offshoots  of  the  Hebrew,  than 
with  the  Chinese  and  Indian  races.  Indeed,  there  are 
many  assimilating  characteristics,  described  in  the  tra 
ditional  records  of  the  Bible,  which  bespeak  for  the 
Israelites  a  Tartar  origin,  and  a  return  and  reassimi- 
lation  of  the  lost  tribes  with  the  original  stock. 

"  The  Lord  God  Almighty  of  the  Israelites  was  first 
supported  in  the  assumed  drvinity  of  creative  power 
by  direct  revelation  to  an  intercessor  through  the 
'  terrible  voice  of  the  thunder-cloud  and  its  lightning 
demonstrations  of  anger; '  and  as  the  highest  moun 
tains  overtopped  these  gloom-enveloped  seats  of  celes 
tial  majesty,  they  were  made  the  mediums  of  inter 
view  between  the  heaven  and  earth-born,  either  by 
priests  or  prophets,  who  claimed  the  favored  agency 
of  divine  power.  Mount  Moriah,  both  of  Thibetstan 
and  Assyrian  designation,  also  Sinai  and  Olympus 
(Stromboli),  were,  from  present  evidences,  active  vol 
canoes  at  the  reputed  biblical  date  of  the  world's 
creation;  also  during  the  subsequent  periods  of  reve 
lation  developed  by  the  many  approved  mythologies 
adopted  by  tribes  and  nationalities,  and  they  served  to 
increase  the  mysterious  facilities  of  priest  and  prophet 
craft  for  imposing  upon  the  credulity  of  the  people. 
If  this  imposition,  which  is  craved  as  a  solace  assur 
ance  by  the  superstitious,  had  been  devoted  to  hold 
ing  them  in  subjection  for  their  own  good  until  they 
could  command  themselves  for  an  appreciation  of  the 
realizing  effects  of  affection  as  a  source  of  grateful  con 
fidence  for  united  reciprocation,  it  might  have  received 
in  tolerative  atonement  a  negative  degree  of  approba 
tion.  But  as  it  was  used  for  the  profane  usurpation 
of  selfish  power  to  aid  in  making  miserable  the  masses 
and  holding  them  in  debased  subjection  for  poverty- 
stricken  multiplication;  to  toil  in  rearing  memorial 
monuments  to  perpetuate  their  own  delusions,  which 
still  hold  arbitrary  sway,  it  should  be  the  self-encour- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  129 

aged  duty  of  all  who  desire  to  realize  in  life  an  abid 
ing  foretaste  of  immortality  to  make  a  decisive  effort 
for  the  emancipation  of  future  generations.  To  ac 
complish  an  end  so  important  that  it  surpasses  calcu 
lation,  we  have  only  to  hold  ourselves  personally 
amenable  to  a  trusting  reliance  upon  supreme  creative 
power,  with  a  thankful  feeling  of  joyful  assurance  in 
the  well-approved  belief  that  it  has  placed  happiness 
within  our  reach  if  we  use  consistent  means  for  its  re 
alization.  The  object  of  our  creation  and  habitable 
subjection  to  the  hitherto  debatable  choice  of  right 
and  wrong,  which  in  adventure  are  rarely  confirmed 
by  experience  as  absolute,  will  at  least  be  retained  as 
a  creative  arcanum  until  our  race  adaptation  has  been 
matured  for  the  arbitration  of  his  infinite  approval. 
All  who  are  desirous  of  realizing  truthful  impressions 
should  be  immeasurably  grateful  that  all  the  religious 
records  of  ceremonial  worship  bear  such  palpable  evi 
dence  of  selfish  human  intention.  From  Genesis  to 
'  Revelations/  in  the  biblical  record,  whatever  there 
is  that  is  clear  to  sane  comprehension,  shows  a  dispo 
sition  to  render  humility  a  synonym  of  degradation  and 
foolishness,  a  prize  worthy  of  attainment  as  the  means 
of  salvation. 

"  Those  who  require  other  evidence  than  the  confir 
mation  of  their  own  judgments,  to  render  a  different 
verdict,  are  deserving  of  the  misery  its  worshipful  be 
lief  has  ever  entailed.  But  as  a  book  of  humorous 
sarcasm  and  irony,  deposed  in  tacit  and  often  in  open 
and  bold  ridicule  of  its  blind  and  subjective  faith-be 
lieving  worshippers,  it  is  incomparable.  In  evidence 
of  this  self-evident  fact,  the  serpent-beguiler  of  Eve, 
Balaam's  speaking  ass.  Joshua's  obedient  sun  and 
moon,  and  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament,  are 
sufficient  proofs  for  the  attestation!  The  Christian 
sects  deplore  the  forlorn  condition  of  India's  and 
China's  Buddhist  symbolical  worshipers  of  the  long- 
tailed  orang  progenitors  of  the  human  race,  who  num 
ber  four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  out  of  the  earth's 
total  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty.  This  grand  propor 
tion — which  was  still  greater  before  the  incursive  eras 


130  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

of  Tartar  and  Arabian  invasion — were  united  in  rever 
ence  to  Buddha  as  the  great  exemplar  of  sympathetic 
and  kindly  affection,  supposed  to  be  the  inherent  attri 
butes  of  their  primal  orang  ancestors,  before  their  fall 
imposed  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  from  the  op 
posing  interests  of  ground  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and 
sequence  art  facilitations  for  ground  residence  comfort. 
"There  is  certainly  a  complaisant  assurance  of  con 
fidence  in  these  demonstrative  acts  of  grace  in  our  be 
half,  when  we  consider  the  lack  of  union  among  the 
Christian  sects  at  home;  and  the  great  preponderance 
of  worse  than  pagan  scoffers,  who  do  not  hesitate  to 
curse  and  swear  in  vituperation  of  their  own  worship, 
ful  divinities."  [Addressing  the  two  Missionaries.}    "Did 
you  never  reflect,  while  you  were  subject  to  the  task 
master  usage  of  the  Malays,  upon  the  ridiculous  parts 
you  had  been  enacting  as  missionaries  in  endeavoring 
to  subvert  the  effect  of  each  other's  labors  ?     But  you 
need  not  bow  your  heads  with  shame,  if  in  the  recog 
nition  of  the  truth  you  can  realize   that  the  tearing- 
down  disposition  of  creeds  for  the  rearing  of  others 
upon  their  ruins  is  but  a  type-exemplar  reflection  of 
the  marine  policy  of  the  fishy  inhabitants  of  the  ocean. 
With  nearly  a  century  and  a  half's  observation  devoted 
to  the  study  of  civilized  humanity's  claims  to  happy 
superiority,  I  can  truly  say  that  for  a  realizing  percep 
tion  of  affection's  boundless  capacity  for  present  exal 
tation,  and  immortal  extension,  I  found  but  very  few 
who  appeared  to  acknowledge  its  supremacy,  or  were 
capable  of  deriving  from  instinct  its  allotment  of  en 
joyment.     The  inventors  are  the  active  gods  for  civil 
ized  creation,  but  are  overreached  and  subjected  to  the 
ruling  sway  of  the  god  of  self,   who  assumes  the  attri 
butes  of  all-creative  supremacy  and  dispensation;  and 
before  the  introduction  of  patent  encouragement,  was 
generally  successful  in  reducing  the  thoughtfully  skill 
ful  to  the  most  abject  poverty,  from  the  heedless  effect 
that  invests  inventive  inspiration  and  renders  it  oblivious 
to  the  ways  and  means  of  '  business'  speculation.    The 
dark  ages — which  were  ushered  in  by  the  supremacy  of 
Christianity  over  paganism,  causing,  by  the  dissensions 
wrought,  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  empire  and  the 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  131 

substitution  of  the  Eoman  Pontiff  hierarchy — uprose 
from  the  arbitrary  absorption  and  control  of  inventive 
genius,  by  making  it  subservient  to  the  interests  of  the 
church.  This  inquisitorial  supervision  of  intellect, 
although  no  longer  subject  to  the  dictatorial  control  of 
a  supreme  pontiff  and  consistorial  adjuncts,  still  exists 
in  a  diffused,  but  no  less  tyrannical  form  for  the  sup 
pression  of  all  and  every  innovation  that  conflicts  with 
the  name  of  religion  and  its  self-confuting  observances. 
This  ordeal  of  superstitious  infatuation  in  re-enactment, 
shows  a  congregation  appreciation  of  experience  which 
I  saw  aptly  illustrated  during  my  last  visit  to  the  Pa 
cific  coast. 

"Having  Heard  Many  Surprising  Anecdotes  Related, 
showing  the  great  instinctive  sagacity  of  the  grizzly 
bear,  I  sought  an  opportunity  to  verify  one,  that  ad 
vocated  his  humorous  knowledge  of  clownish  attain 
ments,  for  the  entertainment  of  herds  in  the  style  of 
burlesque  imitation  adopted  by  the  circus  functionary; 
receiving  as  a  reward  for  his  proficiency  the  ration 
fee  afforded  by  the  missionaries  to  the  Fejee  islanders. 
An  old  vaquero  huntsman,  learning  that  I  was  a  native 
of  India,  the  land  of  the  tiger  and  elephant,  and  with 
al  was  an  accomplished  juggler,  introduced  himself; 
and,  after  I  had  entertained  him,  to  his  enthusiastic 
satisfaction,  promised  to  afford  me  abundant  opportu 
nity  for  the  gratification  of  my  desire  to  study  the  in 
stinctive  habits  of  the  world's  champion  bear. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  day  appointed,  we  started 
at  an  early  hour  for  a  mountain  valley  a  day's  journey 
to  the  southeast  from  the  town  of  San  Diego,  and 
camped  for  the  night  in  a  glen  that  added  odor  to 
Virgil's  description  of  a  nocturnal  bear  concert.  As. 
I  had  heard  so  many  stories  of  their  fearless  and  reck 
less  bravado,  I  felt  inclined  to  demur  from  an  intro 
duction  into  their  special  haunts  and  quarters,  that  ev 
idently  lacked  the  usual  means  of  a  double  outlet  for 
ventilation.  But  my  companion,  assured  me  that  he 
was  well  known  to  the  community,  and  that  the  old 
heads  would  respect  his  presence,  and  after  a  little 
show  of  dudgeon  would  find  an  opening  to  air  them- 


132  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

selves  without  beating  up  our  quarters.  'Besides/  he 
added,  as  a  reminder  of  my  expressed  desire  to  study 
their  habits  intimately,  'you  could  not  get  an  idea  of 
their  'cuteness'  if  we  did  not  put  them  up  to  a  trick  or 
two  extra,  with  an  understanding  that  we  have  come 
on  a  business  contract  in  which  they  are  to  play  a 
part.' 

"In  confirmation  of  his  correct  judgment,  after  an 
hour's  growling  discussion,  at  varied  points  of  view, 
more  or  less  remote  from  our  camp;  which  had  been 
chosen  from  ite.  niche-like  cavity  that  commanded  the 
entrance  to  the  canyon,  at  its  narrowest  part,  which  an 
ample  fire  of  brush-wood  effectually  closed,  the  bear 
junta  dispersed. 

"  At  daybreak,  after  refreshing  ourselves  in  accord 
ance  with  the  customary  habits  derived  from  instinc 
tive  education  peculiar  to  race  divergence,  we  mounted 
our  horses,  and  as  we  rode  out  of  the  canon  the  hun 
ter,  to  show  me  that  he  was  a  studied  adept  in  the 
prescience  of  bearcraf  t,  described  positions  in  which  I 
should  be  enabled  to  obtain  a  head  view  of  the  recon- 
noitering  objects  of  our  visit,  and  observe  the  effect 
produced  when  he  pointed  them  out  with  his  rifle. 

"  In  exact  counterpart  to  his  revelation  the  bear's 
head  appeared,  and  when  he  directed  my  attention  to 
each,  with  liis  rifle,  instead  of  withdrawing  their  heads, 
or  in  a  half-reared  impetus  turning  upon  the  pivot  of 
their  hind  legs,  like  the  other  species,  they  turned 
bodily  round  with  an  awkward  movement  that  gave 
me  an  impression  that  aboriginal  bear  tactics  had  not 
been  derived  from  contemporary  Indian  example,  or 
civilized  cultivation,  as  they  each  endeavored  to  cover 
their  rears  in  retreat.  Calling  my  companion's  atten 
tion  to  this  peculiarity,  he  smiled,  as  he  advised  me 
that  it  was  a  sexual  feature  of  distinction  in  move 
ment  that  was  alike  common  to  all  the  grades  of  female 
animality  that  had  come  within  the  range  of  his  ob 
servation;  at  least  those  who  made  any  pretense  to  the 
ownership  of  a  tail;  but  as  spies  for  seeing  all  that  was 
to  be  seen,  from  bush  or  vale,  they  were  far  more  cute 
than  the  males,  yet  for  working  up  a  course  of  safety, 
at  the  best,  they  were  poor  '  toots,'  and  had  no  more 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  133 

discretion  to  avoid  exposure  than  I  had  seen  in  the 
bear  exhibition.  '  But/  said  he,  '  for  a  real  sanctified 
fight  to  obtain  maternal  atonement  in  revenge  for  the 
loss  of  her  cubs  she  will  generally  outrival  the  most 
fierce  of  her  sex,  yet  I  have  seen  specimens  \vho  have 
"turned  tail"  and  left  their  young  a  prey  to  the  hunter 
when  of  a  helpless  age,  and  have  threatened  to  shoot 
the  recreant  mother  at  sight  as  I  took  her  progeny  in 
charge  for  wet  nursing.  Appearances  are  deceptive. 
This  "  saw  "  I  have  seen  verified  in  the  grizzly,  as  well 
as  in  woman,  and  especially  in  the  case  referred  to, 
for  when,  on  the  following  morning,  I  offered  my 
adopted  foundlings  the  cow  pap  they  had  greedily 
sucked  on  the  previous  day,  it  was  refused,  not,  how 
ever,  from  daintiness;  this  I  readily  discovered  from 
their  playful  fullness,  and  suspecting  the  source  from 
which  their  nutriment  was  derived,  watched  and  caught 
the  mother  in  the  act  of  nursing  her  supposed  casta 
ways,  or  abandoned  offspring.  This  sagacious  mani 
festation  of  intelligent  trust  raised  the  grizzly's  in 
stinct  considerably  in  my  estimation,  and  when  she 
added  gratitude  in  sparing  rny  herds  I  determined  to 
devote  a  little  more  attention  to  the  development  of 
the  species'  characteristics,  and  am  sorry  to  say  that  I 
have  found  the  male  brute  a  complete  specimen  of  self 
ishness." 

"The  vaqueros  on  the  third  day  after  our  seeming 
departure  from  the  grizzly  haunt,  drove  a  herd  of 
cattle  into  the  valley  of  the  bear  canyon  and  left  them 
to  their  own  care,  and  on  the  following,  a  grizzly 
clown  gave  his  first  entertainment. 

"Ensconsed  in  ambush  on  a  hill  peak  that  overlooked 
the  valley,  in  an  opposite  direction  from  the  canyon, 
with  a  field-glass  I  gained  an  excellent  view  of  the 
grizzly  clown's  movements  while  selecting  a  favorable 
point  of  attraction  for  the  commencement  of  his  per 
formances.  His  first  act  was  in  the  opossum  role. 
Having  gained  the  summit  of  a  small  hillock  in  his 
natural  character,  unobserved  by  the  herd  which  was 
lazily  feeding  at  a  short  distance  from  its  base,  he 
suddenly  uprose  so  that  his  shadow  would  be  cast 
from  the  rising  sun  into  the  faces  of  the  cattle,  and 


134  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

then  succeeded  by  a  series  of  truly  comical  attitudes 
ID  attracting  their  attention.  This  accomplished,  he 
rolled  himself  into  a  lumpish  opossum-like  similitude 
to  the  school-boy's  toe-trundle,  and  commenced  his 
approach  by  rolling  in  zig-zag  course  down  the  slope. 
On  reaching  the  level  ground,  he  took  an  observation 
from  beneath  his  shaggy  paws,  to  see  the  effect  pro 
duced  by  his  performance.  The  herd  audience,  when 
their  gaze  was  first  attracted  by  his  grotesque  gesticu 
lations,  which  appeared  to  represent  in  pantomimic 
burlesque  the  herdsman,  and  in  shadowy  extension 
gigantic  reach,  half  averted  their  heads  and  raised 
their  tails,  as  if  diverted  in  hesitation  between  amused 
curiosity  and  panic  fear,  but  ready  for  the  crisis  to  be 
determined  by  the  actor's  subsequent  movements. 
Bruin  seemed  to  be  aware  that  the  success  of  his  game 
depended  upon  his  next  stage  of  proceedings,  and 
that  a  long  delay,  sufficient  for  the  leaders  of  the 
herd  to  recover  from  their  amazement,  would  result  in 
a  battle  ;  so  he  ventured  a  sort  of  hand-spring  series 
of  turning  gymnastics,  measuring  his  length  toward 
them  with  each  revolution.  The  herd  received  this 
act  of  the  programme  with  snorts  and  flourish  of  tails, 
and  as  they  commenced  crowding  to  the  front  and 
extending  the  circuit  it  was  evident  that  amused  curi 
osity  was  gaining  the  ascendency  over  fear.  When 
their  attention  was  fairly  engrossed,  he  began  to  make 
his  approaches  to  the  victim  he  had  selected  for 
slaughter,  and  when  near  enough  to  insure  certainty, 
he  pounced  with  a  shambling  but  quick  spring  upon 
the  neck  of  the  cow  and  prostrated  her,  while  instead 
of  throttling  to  stop  her  bellowing  fright,  he  encour 
aged  it  with  growls,  with  the  seeming  intention  of 
effecting  a  panic  dispersion  of  the  herd  with  the  bulls 
in  lead,  a  result  that  quickly  followed.  He  then  dis 
patched  his  victim,  and  was  soon  joined  by  his  com 
panions  who  had  been  waiting  at  different  points  with 
anxious  expectations  for  the  successful  conclusion  of 
his  comic  prelude  and  tragedy.  When  mustered  to 
the  number  of  four  they  managed  to  convey  the  body 
to  the  canyon  without  leaving  a  trail,  which  was  sig 
nificant  of  forethought  for  future  provision. 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  8UMATBA.        135 

"My  companion  assured  me  that  it  was  a  rare  oc 
currence  for  two  bears  to  engage  in  an  enterprise  of 
the  kind,  as  they  were  generally  inclined  to  lead  a  sol 
itary  life. 

"For  the  three  following  days  the  same  scene  was 
re-enacted,  without  any  increase  of  suspicious  alarm, 
or  abatement  of  curious  interest  on  the  part  of  the  au 
dience  herd;  but  as  four  cows  had  been  sacrificed  to 
show  that  cattle  are  as  little  inclined  to  profit  by  ex 
perience  as  humanity,  the  hato  was  transferred  to  a  dis 
tant  and  more  safe  pasturage,  where  they  would  not 
be  dependent  upon  grizzlies  for  amusement. 

"  With  this,  by  no  means  exaggerated,  illustration 
of  the  profitless  use  humanity  has  made  of  past  expe 
rience,  I  will  now  introduce  for  your  consideration  a 
chata  reflection  of  hopeful  regeneration  from  an  abid 
ing  and  conscious  faith  in  the  atoning  merits  of  tail 
grace  as  an  expiating  medium  of  salvation  from  the 
penalty  of  knowledge,  with  and  without  experience. 
But  as  the  casual,  yet  all-sufficient,  comparative  review 
of  the  unreliable  nature  of  Bible  testimony  from  the 
mystic  involvement  of  traditionary  fact  with  selfish 
rites  and  ceremonies,  has  nearly  exhausted  our  allotted 
time,  we  will  defer  the  important  subject  of  hereditary 
tail  impressions  until  to-morrow  evening." 


OFR  KUBU  ORANG  EVENING  ENTERTAINMENT  proved  ex 
ceedingly  attractive,  as  a  tree-hand-ballet  party  gave  a 
performance  under  orchestral  direction,  that  exhibited 
in  a  lively  manner  many  aboriginal  traits  of  germ- 
manic  gymnastry.  The  younger  Kubu  dryads  were 
especially  happy  in  the  display  of  their  natural  graces, 
and  as  they  had  all  been  subject  to  missionary  conver 
sion  under  the  manipulating  hands  of  the  Gibbons 
presbyters,  their  incipient  caudiality  gave  an  un- 
spanked  piquancy  to  their  agility,  which  sufficed  for 
the  enlightened  conviction  of  Father  Oderat  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  llantkin,  who  appeared,  for  the  occasion,  to 
be  sensibly  impressed  with  their  regenerating  influ 
ence.  For  my  own  part,  I  must  say,  that  for  the  first 
time  I  felt  the  revivifying  influence  of  the  caudal 


136     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

spirit  that  inspired  Kan  Avan's  emotional  inquiry  on 
board  of  the  Lorcha  Martha,  and  recalled  to  my  mind 
the  singular  and  wonderful  endowment  of  his  sister 
Bridget  for  an  enlightened  perception  of  my  lost  con 
dition.  But  I  found  consolation  in  the  thought  that 
her  abounding  grace  would  open  the  fount  of  pity  in 
supplication  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  my  hope/ul 
conversion  in  the  tail  extension  of  faith,  that  I  might 
believe  and  be  saved  when  weighed  in  the  balance  and 
found  wanting.  The  assurance  of  her  affectionate 
sympathy  caused  me  to  reflect  upon  the  great  privi 
leges  that  I  enjoyed,  and  how  I  might  best  impart  the 
substance  of  my  caudal  faith  regeneration  to  the  poor 
sinfully  benighted  Christian  races,  whose  uncultivated 
soils  were  devoted  to  the  idol  worship  of  artificial  tail 
memorials,  which  were  the  inspirations  of  vanity  rather 
than  the  spirit  regeneration  of  entailed  impressions. 
When  I  recalled  the  labor  bestowed  upon  the  heads 
and  backs  of  our  females  for  external  adornment,  and 
ritual  expression  of  a  halting  hereditary  impression — 
which  lacked  faith  for  the  discernment  of  the  true  seat 
of  happy  contentment — I  felt  a  longing  desire  to  be 
made  the  means  for  their  enlightenment. 

The  tout-ensemble  of  the  balletists,  as  they  appeared 
in  then  first  endowment  of  skin  vestments,  although 
lacking  in  the  rounded  contour  esteemed  by  our  arti 
ficially  depraved  tastes  as  an  essential  for  the  realiza 
tion  of  beauty,  was  extremely  attractive  from  the  en 
hancement  of  graceful  action  moving  in  harmony  with 
musical  melody.  My  prejudices  had  been  amused  by 
Kan  Avan's  hallucination,  which  implied  the  possibil 
ity  of  imparting  an  hereditary  realization  of  tail  faith 
through  the  interceding  grace  of  associate  impression 
upon  the  mother  at  a  susceptible  period  without  sup 
posing  for  an  instant  that  the  relic  germ  of  a  tail  re 
mained  for  organic  extension  and  functional  revivifica 
tion.  But  there  is  nothing  like  the  adaptability  of  an 
object  to  an  end  for  the  annulment  of  prejudice  and 
the  reconciliation  of  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the 
most  startling  revelations.  The  graceful  semi-aerial 
evolutions  of  these  relict-germ  orang  balletists,  clothed 
in  Nature's  primitive  garb,  with  their  regenerated  in- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  137 

dex  tails,  with  gentle  curve  pointing  upwards  in  con 
trast  with  the  civilized  stage-actors  of  pedal  display, 
appeared  like  angels  in  pin-feathers  preparing  for  a 
full  fledged  flight. 

The  mother  of  Loftus  Leslie,  in  divination  of  my 
thoughts,  challenged  my  judgment  in  question  whether 
to  my  honest  appreciation  these  Kubu  converts  did 
not  approach  nearer  to  my  conceptions  of  the  natural 
requirements  in  evolution  for  angelic  flight  than  the 
most  fashionably  devout  Christian  belle  that  I  had 
ever  seen  in  Sunday  paraphernalia,  listening,  self-en 
grossed,  to  the  sentential  platitudes  of  a  preacher. 
The  rehearsal  of  my  thoughts  excited  a  smile  of  plea 
sure  as  she  reminded  me  that  these  representatives  of 
regeneration,  as  well  as  the  tailful  Presbyter  Gibbons, 
the  missionary  promoters  of  incipient  reconversion, 
had  undoubtedly  in  renewed  and  original  endowment 
but  a  faint  perception  of  the  beatific  contentment  pos 
sessed  by  the  primitive  originals  before  the  sinful 
lapse  of  contemporary  races  produced  an  upright  walk, 
and  the  laboring  seeds  of  enmity  fostered  in  Cain  from 
Mother  Eve's  partial  preference  shown  in  awarding  his 
brother  Abel  the  nominal  task  of  shepherd. 

"For,"  she  continued,  "you  can  judge  of  the  effect 
of  example,  from  the  counter-influence  of  our  kindly 
association  with  the  Gibbons,  who  really  recognize  our 
well  disposed  endeavors  to  make  experience  con 
ducive  for  the  exact  realization  of  knowledge,  and  the 
suppression  of  prejudice  which  has  induced  inimical 
habits  in  repudiation  of  the  gentle  influences  coincident 
with  our  first  estate.  Of  course,  you  can  now  realize,  from 
experience,  that  a  predominating  spirit  of  oppression, 
exercised  over  the  most  gentle  and  submissive  beings, 
will  in  time  beget  a  spirit  of  retaliation,  which  causes 
self -depreciation;  this,  as  with  the  opposite  influence, 
can  be  traced  to  the  lowest  degree  of  sentient  animal- 
ity.  We  endeavor  to  set,  from  self -legislation,  an  in 
dividual  example  of  affection,  that  in  reciprocation  will 
discover,  for  amendment,  without  reproof ,  its  own  de 
fects.  As  from  the  test  of  experience,  we  consider, 
that  to  love,  and  be  loved,  is  the  highest  degree  of 
mortal  attainment,  and  that,  in  itself,  it  is  an  emotion 


138  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

independent  of  the  body's  soil:  in  effect  it  must  extend 
to  every  sentient  creation  capable  of  reciprocation, 
and  bear  in  its  degree  harmonious  fruit.  If  the  tra 
ditional  foundation  of  truth  is  carefully  separated 
from  its  mysterious  investment  of  ceremonial  rites, 
peculiar  to  Israelitist  record,  the  Bible  relation,  in  al 
lusion  to  creative  events,  will  be  found  to  refer  di 
rectly  to  religion  as  the  curse  of  knowledge  that 
would  defy  correction  from  experience!  As  in  trac 
ing  its  course,  we  find  that  the  superstitious  masses 
have  been  blindly  chained  to  render  task-labor  for  the 
temporal  supremacy  of  priest  craft;  which  in  com 
pensation,  and  for  the  continuance  of  its  potential 
sway,  subjects  its  votaries  to  the  recognition  of 
intercessor  superiority,  in  preaching  and  praying  ne 
gotiations  with  the  Supreme  Being,  above  their  own 
individual  capacity.  Thus,  in  the  most  blasphemous 
manner,  by  arrogating  the  power  of  confession  and  ab 
solution,  they  assume  the  attributes  of  the  Creator, 
while,  self-convicted,  they  stand  exposed  for  the  dis 
cernment  of  their  dupes,  in  likeness,  as  the  depicted 
serpent-beguilers  of  Eve.  If  the  poor  of  our  race 
would  consult  in  thought,  with  their  own  judgments, 
for  experienced  self-legislation,  they  would  soon  ob 
tain  convincing  evidence  that  happy  realization  was  an 
inherent  power,  founded  upon  affectionate  self-control 
for  the  interest  of  confidence,  compounded  in  usage 
from  reciprocation.  Your  experience  has  already  dis 
covered  that  we  have  reduced  labor  to  an  interesting 
and  amusing  pastime,  from  an  example  that  cultivates 
kindred  equality  for  the  enhancement  of  common  in 
terest,  and  through  it  individual  enjoyment.  If  your 
peoples  would  withhold  themselves  from  club  and 
congregation  assemblies,  and  make  family  association 
a  more  general  means  of  enjoyment,  and  become  ex 
emplar  playmates  and  teachers  to  their  own  children, 
an  equality  realization  would  be  the  immediate  result, 
in  exaltation  from  the  reverence  now  paid  to  a  stable 
manger  birth.  We  do  not  depreciate,  or  ritually  en 
noble  a  person,  who  from  vicarious  circumstances 
happened  to  be  lowly  born,  in  the  schedule  estima 
tion  of  society;  but  with  exampled  proof  extend  to 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  139 

them  the  right-hand  of  fellowship,  in  the  reality  of  re 
ciprocation,  and  in  freedom  from  ceremonial  mum 
meries.  In  defiance  of  past  experience,  which  shows 
in  continued  train  the  poverty  subjection  of  the  wor 
shipers  of  all  sects,  in  the  majority,  to  a  labor- 
gained  pittance,  and  military  subserviency  in  union  to 
church  and  state,  the  delusion  for  self-martyrdom  is 
still  augmented  by  'reforms'  derived  from  re-enact 
ments  of  old  scenes  new-glossed  to  suit  the  emergency. 
These  are  promulgated  by  agitators,  reformers,  and 
sensational  theorists,  who  create  a  momentary  excite 
ment  in  aid  of  political,  and  other  leaders  who  have 
an  object  to  gain,  and  make  such  use  of  the  laborer  as 
will  subserve  their  purpose,  and  then  cast  him  off  with 
as  little  regretful  thought  as  they  would  a  Chinese 
shuffle  slipper  of  straw.  When  this  reckless  disre 
gard  of  self-provisionary  thought  becomes  suddenly 
surprised  with  a  periodical  business  blight,  occasioned 
by  a  forced  or  over-stocked  market,  and  wages  sink  to 
the  limits  of  a  bare  existence;  then  the  workmen's 
strikes  inaugurate  starvation  and  charity  doles,  which 
in  taming  effect  forces  whines  of  'gratitude!'  and  sub 
mission,  but  no  foresight  for  the  prevention  of  a  like 
occurrence.  Of  the  stupendous  causes,  which  un 
heeded  by  the  masses  inaugurate  these  poverty  stricken 
periods,  the  late  Russian  Holy  War  against  Turkey 
furnishes  an  apt  illustration. 

"  Christian  Russia  covets  Constantinople,  and  has 
fouiid  many  pretexts  in  past  times  to  make  it  a  prize 
of  war,  but  has  always  failed  in  her  attempts  to  sub 
jugate  the  Turk,  and.  alone,  would  have  failed  in  the 
last  effort.  The  cause  of  the  war  was  the  alleged  mal 
treatment  of  doubtful  Christians;  if  the  persecution 
had  been  proved  its  abatement  could  have  been  per 
manently  effected  by  the  combined  powers  of  Europe, 
without  bloodshed.  But  the  '  peace  and  good  '  will  of 
Christianity  has  ever  proved  a  theoretical  placebo  of 
prayer  with  nations  as  well  as  individuals,  and 
the  policy  of  contingent  expectations  that  animated 
the  ministerial  cabinets  of  the  countries  whose  collateral 
interests  pleaded  hopeful  gain  invoked  the  pious  segis 
to  cloak  their  motives  and  excuse  their  inaction.  There 


140  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

was,  however,  little  necessity  for  disguise,  as  the  her 
editary  impression  of  subject  liberty  and  patriotism 
had  become  callous  in  the  shackle  grooves  worn  by  the 
collar  of  servitude,  so  that  the  Church  and  State  had 
but  little  difficulty  in  reconciling  public  comprehen 
sion  to  bear  the  imposition  of  new  taxes  and  prospec 
tive  levies  for  the  warful  expression  of  counter-growls 
of  intimidation  over  the  anticipated  dissection  of  infi 
del  Turkey.  Russia,  at  first  doubtful,  allowed  her 
pious  zeal  for  the  distressed  Christians  to  lag,  while 
with  her  best  diplomatic  art  she  put  forth  her  strength 
to  discover  the  bearings  of  the  danger  her  enterprise 
would  be  likely  to  provoke.  When  well  satisfied  that 
her  ultimate  gain,  with  the  assurance  of  non  interfer 
ence,  would  exceed  her  liabilities,  new  atrocities  were 
denounced  as  having  been  committed  by  the  Turks, 
and  the  holy  war  commenced.  With  all  the  discour 
agement  that  Christian  Europe  opposed  to  the  preju 
dice  of  Turkey's  success,  the  God  of  War  favored  her 
cause,  until  Gold,  the  most  high  and  universal  Creator, 
worshiped  by  humanity  corrupted  her  officers  and 
forced  her  to  have  recourse  to  the  terms  of  extreme 
unction. 

"  Russia  gained,  with  the  sacrifice  of  a  hundred 
thousand  machine  manipulators  of  rifles  and  cannon, 
styled  human  and  soul  endowed,  a  prospective  view 
of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  when  Poverty,  the  recruiting 
sergeant  and  litter-ary  father  of  the  peasant  and  soldier, 
shall  have  refilled  the  ranks  of  his  supreme  autocratic 
Czar  Godhead's  Christian  army  with  a  sufficient  over 
plus  of  zealous  patriots  desirous  of  enriching  the  des 
ert  wastes  and  rose  valleys  of  Persia  with  their  Rus 
sian  soils,  a  pretext  will  be  found  to  secure  for  them  the 
glorious  prize  of  martyrdom.  If  the  knowledge  gained 
by  experience  had  been  treasured  with  studious  dili 
gence  from  the  date  of  man's  sinful  decaudalization 
recorded  in  the  'Bible, 'down  to  the  present  epoch, 
with  the  care  we  endeavor  to  bestow  for  the  behoof  of 
all,  it  would  have  yielded,  in  compound  interest,  such 
a  realization  of  happy  confidence  that  earthly  enjoy 
ment  would  have  ignored  the  necessity  of  faith  for  the 
joyful  impressions  of  immortality.  Indeed,  my  dear 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        141 

Mr.  Shawtinbach,  you  can  rest  assured  that  nothing 
less  than  the  true  Gibbons'  missionary  method  of  re 
converted  reformation  will  ever  be  able  to  restore 
mankind  to  a  caudial  impression  of  their  present  es 
sential  lack  of  the  prehensile  means  with  which  to  lay 
hold  of  the  promises  of  redeeming  grace  for  salvation 
from  the  woes  of  selfishness.  Convert  Babi  has  testi 
fied  that  he  found  the  most  popular  writer  of  New 
England's  Christian  '  Stumbling  Blocks '  utterly  de 
void  of  a  tailful  impression  of  regeneration,  and  so  lost 
to  its  merits  as  a  source  of  redeeming  grace  and 
atonement,  that  her  writings,  from  a  lack  of  its  sym 
pathetic  impression,  imparted  the  idea  of  composition 
from  the  word  and  sentence  siftings  of  Christian  au 
thors.  In  truth,  he  said,  that  she  had  become  so  cal 
lous  to  the  divine  inspirations  of  the  original  tailful 
state,  and  mechanical  in  her  departure,  that  she  re 
minded  him  of  a  female  automaton,  whose  ordinance 
wo.ks  of  grace  required  to  be  wound  up  once  in 
every  twenty-four  hours,  and  in  kind  the  conference 
joys  expressed  by  the  Christians  of  New  England  for 
the  final  salvation  of  the  world  seemed,  in  lugubrious 
expression  to  say — with  the  assumed  possession  of  the 
Gibbons'  powers  of  conversion — '  You  wish  to  have  us 
pray  for  your  regeneration  in  faith  to  save  you  from 
perdition  ;Ve  can,  but  it  is  only  through  the  sanctifying 
influence  of  the  holy  spirit  that  our  prayers  can  be 
made  effectual  for  your  salvation,  and  we  feel  that  we 
are  as  nothing  in  the  balance  with  faith,  and  that  you 
are  powerless  to  help  yourself.  We  pity  you,  but 
many  there  will  be  who  shall  cry,  "  Lord,  lord! "  but  he 
will  answer,  "  Get  you  hence  and  be  damned/  " 

•'How  vastly  superior  in  ennobling  impression  is 
our  trustful  reliance  in  the  Creator,  whose  immensity 
of  power  makes  us  realize  that  His  providence  has  fur 
nished  indications  for  our  happy  direction,  with  the 
assurance  that  experience  can  be  made  profitable  for 
present  enjoyment  in  forecast  for  immortality.  Know 
ing  the  mutability  of  our  knowledge  attainments,  we 
feel  that  the  cause  shadowed  by  the  Bible's  traditional 
record,  indicates  a  change  of  intention  in  evolution 
from  high  to  low  degree,  in  caste,  while  in  the  balance 


142  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

of  tadtail  suspension.  The  traditional  impressions, 
hereditary  with  women  and  fostered  by  man,  afford 
decisive  evidence  that  the  tail  was  intended  for  the 
full  development  of  winged  flight  ;  when  fledged  with 
the  original  attachments  intended  to  correspond  with 
those  of  the  arms  as  wings.  This  natural  fact  is  made 
evident  from  the  transmitted  angelic  idea  of  re-con 
version  into  the  original  form  designed  for  high  caste 
evolution,  in  which  state  a  fledged  tail  would  be  act 
ually  indispensable,  as  without  it,  flight  could  not  be 
directed.  Even  in  an  unfledged  state  it  clothes  the 
person  of  animality  as  with  a  garb  of  grace,  and  with 
out  it  nakedness  appears  and  shames  the  loser  and 
beholder.  You  have  caught  glimpses  of  an  unhappy 
race  of  once  beautiful  Maltese  cats,  with  whom  this 
tailless  defect,  incurred  from  poison,  has  become  here 
ditary.  The  original  pair  was  imported  by  Dr.  Olu 
Babi  senior,  who  with  the  gentle  affection  of  the  Mal 
abar  coolie,  cultivated  a  return  that  rivaled  his  own 
in  confiding  trust.  A  sketch  of  the  incidents  attend 
ing  the  loss  of  the  tail  of  the  progenitorial  mother  of 
the  now  tailless  progeny  I  will  relate  to  you,  as  they 
illustrate  in  a  remarkable  way  the  biblical  description 
of  our  first  parent's  decaudalization. 

"  The  Maltese  Cat,  as  well  as  the  tortoise-shell  tabby, 
are  aboriginal  natives  of  India  proper,  and  are  supe 
rior  in  size  and  intelligence  to  other  species.  The 
pair  introduced  by  Dr.  Olu  he  selected  while  kittens, 
from  a  litter  whose  parents  were  augur  cats  in  the 
temple  of  Yemlu,  about  seventy  doulacks  (equivalent 
to  1J  English  miles)  from  the  Persian  city  of  Yezd  in 
Irak.  Although  of  religious  parentage,  and  divinity 
mediums  for  priestly  consultation,  on  their  arrival  at 
the  Holm  their  frolicksorne  vivacity  quite  astonished 
the  sedate  dutch  tabbies,  and  frequently  received  cuffs 
of  admonition  from  the  large  cream-colored  and  curly 
fured  shah  cats  of  the  true  Persian  breed.  But  these 
feline  rebuffs  in  noways  intimidated  the  Maltese,  but 
seemed  to  add  spirit  to  their  roguish  pranks,  and  they 
soon  became  the  general  favorites  of  the  household, 
and  enlisted  the  admiration  of  the  entire  orang  family, 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATEA.  143 

the  younger  members  of  which  soon  became  so  en- 
wrapt  with  their  tailful  glee  that  they  made  morning 
pilgrimages  to  the  enclosure  for  the  devotional  grati 
fication  of  curiosity.  As  they  increased  in  growth  one 
or  both  would  accompany  Dr.  Olu  in  his  morning 
visits,  and  as  with  the  Doctor,  would  often  combine 
business  with  pleasure  and  mouse  in  the  plantations. 
While  engaged  in  watching  for  the  surprise  of  the 
rodents,  they  would  be  watched  in  turn  by  the  young 
orangs,  whose  interest  in  their  success  was  manifested 
by  the  attention  they  paid  to  the  languaged  movement 
expression  of  the  cats'  tails. 

"  One  morning,  when  accompanied  by  Miss  Puss, 
who  was  attended  as  usual  by  a  train  of  young  orangs, 
the  doctor  halted  to  give  some  directions  to  those  who 
were  engaged  in  distributing  melons  to  the  Gibbons 
chang.  Puss,  to  occupy  the  time  profitably,  found  a 
freshly-excavated  mouse  habitation,  and  immediately 
assumed  the  watchful  attitude  peculiar  to  her  species, 
with  her  tail  moving  in  swayful  expression  of  the  ab 
sorbing  attraction  of  her  attention  to  the  object  of  her 
pursuit.  A  plantain  snake,  approaching  silently  from 
the  rear,  observed  the  movement  of  the  tail,  and  ap 
parently  heedless  of  its  nether  attachment,  gently 
seized  its  point,  and  with  retractions  incorporated 
nearly  a  third  part  ot  its  length  with  his  own  body, 
before  puss  became  aware  of  the  restraint  placed  upon 
her  emotional  index.  The  young  orangs,  who  were 
bestowing  upon  her  movements  their  watchful  regards, 
detected  the  object  of  the  snake,  the  moment  its  head 
appeared  waving  in  concert  with  the  tail  of  the  cat. 
To  warn  their  favorite  of  the  threatened  danger  to  the 
member  held  by  them  in  reverential  admiration,  they 
tried  every  device  known  to  their  limited  experience. 
At  last,  Avhen  they  found  that  her  attention  was  too 
intently  absorbed  to  heed  their  warnings,  or  notice 
their  swinging  approaches  to  her  body,  and  the  swal 
lowing  throes  of  the  revolting  addition,  that  had 
already  obtained  a  hold  upon  her  tail,  they  enlisted  the 
aid  of  their  elders  for  her  rescue,  who  in  turn  attracted 
the  doctor's  attention  to  the  scaly  act  of  incorporation 
of  the  snake's  length  to  the  tail  of  his  favorite  cat. 


144  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

But  puss  had  already  discovered  the  loathsome  exten 
sion,  and,  with  a  startling  mew  of  cat-anguished  fear, 
sprang  forward  to  supplicate  his  aid,  but  was  so  panic 
stricken  she  baffled  his  attempts  to  step  upon  the  coil 
ing  reptile.  Becoming  delirious  with  fear,  she  com 
menced  running  in  and  out  from  the  bushes,  with 
spitting  cries,  jumping  to  and  fro  to  prevent  the  rep 
tile  from  coiling  around  her  body,  upon  which  its  mo 
tions  seemed  intent.  The  doctor  tried  in  vain  to  con 
trol  puss  with  his  voice,  so  that  he  could  lay  hold  of 
the  reptile  with  his  hand,  knowing  well  that  her  life 
depended  upon  the  quick  accomplishment  of  the  sepa 
ration,  and  ligature  application  at  the  coccygeal  junc 
tion,  to  prevent  the  body's  absorption  of  the  poison; 
for  the  plantain  snake  is  a  distant  relative  of  the  cobra 
manilla,  and  its  fang's  injection  is  equally  poisonous. 
When  about  to  relinquish  the  chase  in  despair,  there 
dropped  from  a  teconia  branch,  under  which  puss 
passed  in  her  wild  course,  a  young  Kubu  maiden,  of  a 
clear  olive  complexion,  who  seized  the  now  glittering 
reptile,  and  with  a  peculiar  motion  disengaged  its  hold, 
and  in  a  trice  snapped  its  head  from  its  body.  Puss, 
relieved  from  the  self-engrafted  length  of  fail,  com 
menced  a  series  of  laughable  gyrations,  seemingly  in 
pursuit  of,  and  for  the  reprehension  of,  her  tail,  for 
allowing  a  union  so  repugnant  to  its  nature,  for  she 
cuffed  it  in  motion  with  spiteful  spittings,  but  was 
careful  to  keep  its  slimy  end  from  coming  in  contact 
with  the  fur  of  her  body.  Attributing  these  dervish 
gyrations  to  an  excess  of  joy  for  her  deliverance,  the 
orangs  in  sympathy  commenced  wheezing  and  grin 
ning  in  a  paroxysm  of  delight.  When  she  had  ex 
hausted  her  strength,  the  doctor  applied  the  ligature, 
and  *  Sagee,'  after  submitting  quietly  to  the  opera 
tion,  started  for  home  trailing  with  disgust  the  dese 
crated  member  of  her  pride  in  the  dust,  as  an  attrition 
source  of  purification,  the  Gibbons'  following  her 
with  manifestations  of  strong  sympathy. 

"  Some  hours  after,  the  doctor,  on  his  way  home, 
while  crossing  the  Glen-brook  footbridge,  had  his  at 
tention  attracted  by  a  faint  mew,  and,  looking  over 
the  railing,  discovered  puss  in  the  hands  of  her  deliv- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  145 

erer,  who  was  endeavoring  to  wash  the  fur  of  the  tail 
free  from  its  poisonous  pollution.  When  completed 
to  her  satisfaction,  she  placed  Sagee  in  the  doctor's- 
arms  with  a  real  smile  of  gratification,  which  made  her 
face  look  beautiful,  notwithstanding  its  original  type, 
derived  from  exampled  expression.  Doctor  Olu  is  not 
only  compassionate  in  the  full  strength  of  Hindu  ca 
pacity,  but  possesses  a  refinement  of  affection  beyond 
comparison.  Yet,  with  all  his  manifestations  of  kindly 
sympathy,  he  has  an  unusually  keen  perception  for 
ludicrous  appreciation,  which  finds  expression  in  the 
rolling  undertow  of  emotional  laughter  characteristic 
of  the  fuQ-enjoying  coolie.  To  the  superficial  observer 
he  would  appear  impassable  to  emotional  impressions 
in  his  ordinary  mood;  but  whenever  there  is  animal 
life  for  human  compassion  his  instinctive  imagination 
is  ever  on  the  alert  for  the  detection  of  mankind's 
ridiculous  incongruities,  with  a  marked  sympathy  for 
the  inferior  grades,  unless  educated  from  birth  under 
the  prejudicial  influence  of  civilized  selfishness.  Doc 
tor  Olu  Babi  inherited  and  has  preserved  his  highly 
cultivated  humorous  predilections,  with  the  infectious 
power  of  imparting  and  prolonging  in  action  the  sub 
dued  influence,  so  that  in  company  it  could  only  be 
detected  by  the  initiated.  Sagee  well  understood  all 
the  doctor's  idiosyncrasies,  and  when  she  saw  and  felt 
that  her  tail-fallen  condition  had  excited  these  emo 
tions  she  could  ill  brook  the  levity,  but  gave  a  re 
proachful  '  miou,  et  tu  ! '  cuff,  and  sprang  from  his  aims. 
The  doctor,  feeling  the  justness  of  the  reproof,  checked 
his  mirth,  and  recalled  her  in  the  soft  tremulous  ac 
cents  of  sympathizing  pity,  that  ever  proves  a  solace- 
to  instinct  in  sickness  and  sorrow.  Puss,  with  per 
haps  a  feeling  of  dependency  upon  his  skill  for  the 
retrievement  of  her  imperiled  tail,  followed  him  home 
in  cat-fallen  despondency,  with  her  pride  trailing  in 
the  dust  of  humility  in  as  reckless  disregard  for  its 
preservative  purity  as  a  modern  belle  for  her  artificial 
substitute.  With  all  the  care  and  anxiety  bestowed 
by  the  doctor  the  poison  infected  the  entire  tail,  caus 
ing  a  gangrenous  necrosis  that  only  terminated  with 
7 


146  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

the  entire  loss  of  the  member.  When  she  became  fully 
impressed  with  her  lost  condition,  a  settled  despon 
dency  seemed  to  pervade  her  whole  being,  and  in 
nightly  wails  her  voice  in  conference  could  be  detected 
above  all  others  from  its  beseeching  tone  as  if  in  sup 
plication  for  a  renewal  of  her  divine  grace,  while  in 
sound  it  seemed  to  represent  the  faith  of  her  sex,  with 
human  endowment,  who  with  paint  endeavor  to  re 
trieve  from  the  wrinkles  of  age  the  complexion  of 
youth.  In  her  daily  walks  she  was  meek  and  contrite, 
and  more  inclined  to  closet  her  woes  than  to  expose 
them  to  the  gibes  of  the  wicked,  who  delight  in  adding 
poison  to  the  sorrows  of  affliction.  Her  deportment 
became  gradually  severe,  with  a  tendency  to  marsu 
pial  uprightness;  and  I  am  sorry  to  add  that  she 
showed  a  special  despite  against  those  who  seemed  to 
enjoy  the  favors  of  her  first  estate,  even  in  the  dimin 
utive  of  Kubu  expression,  so  that  in  a  short  time  she 
wholly  estranged  herself  from  her  orang  sympathisers. 
To  the  regretful  surprise  of  all,  her  first  litter-ary  labors 
produced  a  tailless  progeny,  showing  withal  the  heredi 
tary  taint  of  their  mother's  despondency;  but  often, 
when  kittens,  would  exhibit  strong  tokens  of  renewed 
faith  in  the  efficacy  of  saving  grace  by  ritualistically 
turning  for  hours  together  in  the  spirit  pursuit  of  their 
race's  once  happy  birthright. 

"  Unfortunately,  as  they  increased  in  years,  they  be 
gan  to  exhibit  traits  of  depravity  that  ignored  the 
rights,  not  only  of  property,  but  the  lives  of  animals 
with  whom  their  parents  had  lived  on  excellent  terms 
before  their  mother's  detailation.  As  with  Cain,  this 
malevolent  disposition  was  aggravated  by  paw  correc 
tions,  directed  and  administered  to  the  bereaved  parts, 
so  that  the  delinquents  were  made  to  feel  the  source 
of  their  misfortune  from  the  earliest  stage  of  kitten- 
hood,  until  from  frequency  and  vicarious  distribution 
of  the  nourishment  intended  for  the  deposed  member, 
the  centre  of  gravity,  in  protuberance,  was  sufficiently 
developed  to  render  an  upright  walk  an  easy  means  of 
progression.  As  a  categorical  summary,  I  will  state, 
for  the  test  of  your  observation,  that,  in  a  scriptural 
sense,  they  have  fulfilled  the  litter-ary  injunction,  and 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  147 

with  the  consequent  degeneration  have  become  jackals 
in  poverty-stricken  rapacity,  and  no  longer  hold  them 
selves  amenable  to  domestic  ties,  but  consort  in  packs 
for  the  nightly  rehearsal  in  conference  of  their  woes. 
But  as  the  twilight  shadows  are  gathering  I  will  leave 
you  for  the  night  to  balance  your  thoughtful  reflections 
in  decision  for  refreshing  sleep.  Good  night." 


MY  DEAR  MARVEL  : 

Although  I  write  to  you  in  a  semi-official  style 
of  journalism,  befitting  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  your  position  as  Secretary  of  the  S.  F.  A..  S.,  I 
cannot  withhold  from  your  confidence  the  full  flow  of 
my  novel  impressions,  derived  from  the  evidences  of 
regeneration  that  are  daily  presented  to  my  judgment 
for  truthful  recognition.  The  retrato  and  chata  reve 
lations,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Leslie's  exposition  of  the  fal 
lacy  of  experience  founded  upon  theoretical  knowledge, 
you  can  use  as  your  judgment  prompts  ;  but  in  the 
matter  of  my  personal  experience,  it  would  please  me 
to  have  you  use  your  careful  discretion,  as  votes,  in 
stead  of  thought,  form  the  basis  of  public  opinion  in 
submission  to  the  decrees  of  your  society's  oracular 
decisions.  As  mood,  in  dealing  with  humanity,  as 
well  as  with  the  lower  grades  of  animality,  should  be 
taken  into  consideration  for  a  favorable  impression,  I 
would  especially  recommend  you  to  present  the  install 
ments  I  forward  under  favorable  auspices.  If  you 
should  happen  to  receive  statements  that  appear  some 
what  astonishing  to  your  hereditary  faith  in  miracles, 
select  an  evening  for  the  "  paper's"  presentation  when 
the  members  of  the  society  have  duly  prepared  them 
selves  for  the  discussion  of  relic  authenticity,  or  for 
the  status  classification  of  fish,  as  under  their  influ 
ence  the  vent  of  understanding  will  be  open  for  gill 
reciprocation.  In  happy  appreciation  of  the  practical 
evidences  of  regeneration,  I  remain  yours, 

WILHELM  SHAWTINBACH,  Saar  Soong. 


148  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 


DIABETIC AL  NOTE. 

Time  seems  double  winged  for  the  pleasure  of  flight 
at  the  Holm,  for  I  have  now  been  three  weeks  in  the 
enjoyment  of  its  hospitality  as  a  guest,  and  have  re 
alized  a  more  enduring  perception  of  practical  affec 
tion  and  its  sympathetic  inspiration  than  I  can  ex 
press.  Although  for  a  time  we  have  been  deprived  of 
the  retrato  and  chata  revelations  of  Mr.  Leslie  and 
Doctor  Olu,  there  is  no  lack  of  means  for  their  prac 
tical  exposition  ;  but  their  demonstrations  will  be  re 
sumed  when  the  urgency  of  their  present  employ 
ments  have  passed. 

This  morning,  while  on  my  way  to  visit  the  im 
provements  of  a  distant  Badda  plantation,  I  was  over 
taken  by  the  Kev.  Mr.  Eantkin,  who,  with  some  em 
barrassment,  asked  me  if  I  had  experienced  the  new 
light  sensation  of  regeneration  by  renewed  faith  in  tail 
manifestations.  The  question  startled  me,  for  I  will 
acknowledge  that  I  thought  him  as  incapable  of  con 
struing  humorous  intention  as  he  was  of  appreciating 
the  pendant  test  of  tails  to  Adam  and  Eve  in  suspen 
sion  as  a  balance  of  merit  for  angelic  flight  or  earth 
grubbing  germ-manic  sons  of  toil.  Observing  the 
emotions  of  surprise  the  question  produced,  he,  in 
direct  terms,  asked  me  if  I  had  been  able  to  detect 
emotions  that  I  could  trace  in  extension  to  a  faith  be 
lief  in  the  transmitted  manifestations  of  tail  impres 
sions  as  a  pre-Adamic  heir-loom.  I  must  confess  that 
it  was  with  a  blush  of  shame  that  I  acknowledged  a 
hopeful  faith  in  the  extenuating  emotions  of  tail 
grace  as  an  efficacious  medium  for  angelic  flight,  if, 
of  necessity,  the  endowment  was  sufficient  to  prove 
effectual.  After  pondering  for  some  minutes,  as  if 
holding  speech  communion  with  himself,  subject  to 
period  hesitations  in  seeming  correspondence  with  an 
swer  and  inquiry,  indicated  by  lip  movements  and 
muscular  enunciation,  with  its  lights  and  shadows  of 
expression,  he  asked  if  I  believed  in  the  spirit  influ 
ence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  its  power  to  communicate 
with  words  its  directions  ?  In  replying  to  his  question 
of  belief  in  this  detached  element  of  fanatical  faith  in 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  149 

a  triune  godhead,  I  could  not  withhold  from  my  ex 
pression  a  scornful  reflection  in  rebuke  for  his  still 
continued  reliance  upon  the  fantasmal  inculcations  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  its  ascribed  attributes  derived 
from  the  mountebank  source  of  preaching  delusions. 
But  with  a  feeling  of  self -responsibility  in  vindication 
of  iny  humble  reverence  for  the  immensity  of  supreme 
creative  power,  1  asked  him  how  he  dared  indicate  a 
knowledge  that  ascribed  to  the  Creator  an  alliance 
humiliation  so  shockingly  profane.  Looking  at  me 
with  perturbed  expression  of  anxiety  in  self-depreca 
tion  from  injurious  intention,  he  asked,  in  a  doubtful 
way,  whether  I  imagined  that  the  free-will  power  of 
Adam  and  Eve  was  fore-ordained  with  the  intention 
that  they  should  disobey,  and  if  I  thought  the  fact  of 
their  being  placed  in  command  over  the  fruits  of  the 
garden  trees  of  Eden  by  the  Lord  God  Almighty  of 
Israel,  and  their  fall  from  their  high  position,  really 
indicated  the  loss  of  their  tails,  and  the  consequent 
vicarious  development  of  the  centre  of  gravity  for  an 
upright  walk.  Or  if  Eve  spanked  Cain  with  faith  in 
the  efficacy  of  the  theoretical  knowledge  she  had  ob 
tained  from  transgression  with  scientific  intention  de 
signed  for  the  end  in  view,  or  on  account  of  its  eligi 
ble  position  for  the  gratification  of  spite  as  the  source 
of  her  own  misfortunes  ? 

These  questions,  propounded  in  the  spirit  of  anxious 
inquiry,  I  was  reviewing  in  thought  for  an  answer  of 
suitable  import,  when  he,  speaking  in  half  soliloquy, 
continued  :  '  If  these  events  were  thus,  then  in  se 
quence,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  uncertainty  of 
religious  knowledge  founded  upon  superstitious  faith 
in  counteracting  revelations,  was  the  curse  indicated 
that  doomed  the  believers,  in  majority,  to  servitude 
and  starvation  !  Ah  !  woe  is  my  lot,  that  I  have  been 
preaching  and  teaching  this  fatal  delusion,  in  despite 
of  the  warning  indignities  of  my  own  laboring  servi 
tude,  that  I  accounted  as  a  deserved  penance  for  my 
lukewarm  adherence  to  faith  in  the  theory  of  peace 
and  goodwill  as  an  assurance  for  pardoning  grace, 
while  in  practice  upholding  as  the  basis  of  my  relig 
ious  creed  the  priestly  privilege  of  condemning  the 


150  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

sinner  to  the  punishment  of  hell  fire.  I  little  thought, 
sir,  that  I  should  be  brought  to  address  myself  to  you 
in  this  wise  when  we  first  met  on  board  of  the  vessel, 
but  the  ways  of  Providence  are  inscrutable  and  past 
finding  out  ! ' 

With  this  concluding  syllogistic  enunciation,  char 
acteristic  of  his  professional  habits  of  tramway  ex 
pression,  he  turned  and  retraced  his  steps  Holm-ward. 
It  was  plain  to  discover  in  his  manner  and  method  of 
speakiug,  a  direction  of  thought  that  puzzled  his 
understanding  comprehension,  and  in  some  respects 
seemed  to  resemble  in  suggestive  lead  my  own  reflec 
tions,  which  appeared  to  derive  their  origin  from  the 
novel  impression  of  the  strange  associations  to  which 
I  had  been  subjected  during  my  sojourn  at  the  Holm. 

But  as  all  my  emotions  tended  to  a  sincere  realiza 
tion  of  affection  as  the  supreme  source  of  happiness, 
from  the  inducement  they  offered  as  a  current  for 
kindred  reciprocation,  I  coveted  the  influence  as  an 
increasing  source  of  enjoyment. 

After  having  received  a  new  and  overflowing  acces 
sion  of  sympathetic  pleasure  from  the  harmonious  as 
sociation  of  the  descendents  of  the  ancient  badda 
element  of  discord  and  vengeful  hate,  in  a  musing 
mood  I  returned  by  a  circuitous  hill  track  to  the  Holm. 

While  overlooking  the  valley  reach,  in  extension 
from  the  Holm,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  figure  walk 
ing  beneath  the  trees  of  a  shaded  dale,  where  I  had 
often  watched  the  Kubu  matrons  and  maidens  en 
gaged  in  the  sportive  ballet  dance,  in  moving  figure 
hand  springs  from  limb  to  limb  and  branches  of  the 
spreading  oaks.  My  pocket  field-glass  revealed  the 
form  of  Father  Odorat,  and  the  excited  peculiarity  of 
his  movements  attracted  my  curiosity.  His  aims  were 
crossed  behind  his  back,  and  his  raised  cassock,  of 
black  serge,  fell  over  the  cross  of  his  wrists  with  the 
expression  of  a  diabolical  tail  of  the  orthodox  Cath 
olic  order. 

It  was  easy  to  discover  from  his  perturbed  motions, 
and  vehement  cross  action  of  his  wrists,  that  he 
was  engaged  in  exorcising  the  renewed  impression  of 
entailed  grace;  the  movement  of  his  lips,  the  while, 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  151 

showing  the  urgency  of  his  formuli&tic  appeal  for  the 
pope's  spiritual  intercession  for  the  curtail  of  these 
apostate  tendencies.  As  I  was  in  the  act  of  withdraw 
ing  the  focus  of  my  glass  from  the  privacy  of  his  med 
itations,  its  sweep  brought  into  view  the  swaying 
sprays,  and  jarring  shake  of  the  avenue  tree  limbs,  de 
noting  the  approach  of  a  bevy  of  Kubu  maidens  to 
their  germ-orang  gymnasium,  and  with  renewed  inter 
est  I  turned  it  again  to  the  glade  to  observe  the  char 
acteristic  developments  of  the  interview. 

Much  to  my  surprise  and  chagrin,  as  they  gained 
the  more  exposed  limbs  of  the  oaks,  I  discovered  that 
Bridget  Kan  Avan  led  the  van,  clothed  in  nature's 
garb  of  her  own  furred  skin,  while  with  a  sceptre  up 
ward  curve  of  queenly  grace,  her  tail  clothed  her  back, 
as  if  in  rest  for  a  more  exalted  evolution  of  angelic 
flight.  Catching  a  glimpse  of  father  Odorat,  as  they 
emerged  from  the  deeper  shade  of  the  avenue  trees, 
they  halted  in  pendant  suspension  to  observe  his 
movements,  without  attracting  his  notice.  After  a 
few  minutes  devoted  to  the  watchful  attention  of  his 
movements,  Bridget,  with  an  apparent  appreciation  of 
the  cause  of  his  disturbed  emotions,  drew  her 
hand  across  her  eyes,  and  then  with  manual  signs 
addressed  her  companions.  But  instead  of 
turning  back,  as  I  expected  she  would,  under 
the  modest  influence  of  shame,  she  with  bold 
ness,  that  shocked  my  sensibilities  with  flashes  of  heat, 
advanced,  and  as  I  judged,  from  the  effect,  offered 
him  the  solace  of  her  sympathy,  for  he  immediately 
dropped  his  cassock  tail  and  listened  attentively.  The 
import  of  her  communication,  whatever  its  nature 
might  be,  had  the  tendency  to  calm  his  previous  ap 
prehensions,  for  he  seated  himself  and  witnessed  their 
evolutions  with  wrapt  attention;  but,  alas!  my  own 
eyes,  with  indistinct  vision,  viewed  them  with  a  de 
cidedly  profane  impression.  With  a  jealous  infatua 
tion,  beyond  my  control,  I  watched  until  the  ballet 
dance  closed,  and  was  gladly  relieved  when  I  saw 
Bridget  and  her  troop  depart,  without  accepting  the 
offer  of  father  Oderat,  who  in  forgetfulness  of  his  pre 
vious  tribulation,  and  her  angelic  endowment,  beck- 


152     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

oned  for  her  to  alight  that  ho  might  bestow  his  shrive 
ing  benedictioD.  Glad  at  heart,  I  determined  to  con 
sult  Mr  Leslie  senior,  after  the  evening  Chata,  to 
learn  of  the  welfare  of  Kan  Avan,  and  the  reason  why 
he,  and  his  family,  had  not  visited  Holm  in  accordance 
with  the  established  custom,  and  endeavor  to  draw 
from  him,  if  possible,  the  cause  of  Bridget's  extraor 
dinary  endowment.  Hitherto,  as  with  the  other 
guests,  I  had  been  so  much  occupied  with  the  novelty 
of  my  surroundings,  that  suggestive  questions  for 
elucidation  were  of  rare  occurrence,  for,  as  if  in  pre 
monition,  the  Retrato  or  Chata  illustrations  would  em 
brace  all  subjects  likely  to  produce  questionable 
doubts  of  practicability.  But  example,  in  all  the 
laboring  contingencies  of  happy  association,  proved 
so  clear  to  the  understanding  that  no  questioning 
thought  could  arise  for  exposition,  as  practical  right, 
without  a  wrong  reigned  supreme. 


The  Practical  Use  of  Language -was  the  subject  of  Mr. 
Leslie's,  senior,  evening  retrato: 

"  It  was  evident,"  he  said,  "  that  the  initial  of  word 
introduction  was  derived  from  sounds  indicating  calls 
for  the  expression  of  wants,  and  '  rnaa  and  baa'  were 
undoubtedly  the  first  that  greeted  the  ears  of  Eve  and 
Adam  from  Cain;  and  '  don't,  maa/  the  first  of  plead 
ing  expostulation  that  called  for  an  abatement  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  centre  of  gravity  for  an  upright  walk. 
It  is  also  extremely  probable  that  the  expletive  use  of 
-words  for  the  anathematizing  reprobation  of  acts  and 
-actors  originated  from  this  latter  source  of  affliction, 
more  especially  as  the  mother  was  accountable  for  the 
«in  of  protective  bereavement.  If  from  this  early 
germ-manic  source  the  use  of  expletive  denunciation 
was  derived,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  became  a 
ventful  cause  of  counter  aggravation,  resulting  in  per 
sonal  encounters,  and,  with  multiplication  of  the  spe 
cies,  battle  engagements.  From  this  experienced 
commencement  in  the  use  of  language  for  the  expres 
sion  of  knowledge  attainments  we  can  trace  in  habits 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  153 

and  customs  transmitted  to  the  present  day  the  "  root" 
origin  of  words  to  their  source  in  de-tailed  emergence 
from  the  orang  period  of  silent  contentment.  As  an 
inductive  illustration  of  source  and  degeneration  in  the 
use  of  germ-manic  terms  denoting  the  idea  of  posses 
sion,  it  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  in  primitive 
mating  of  the  sexes  the  reciprocal  style  of  designation 
would  be  'my  herr,'  and  in  the  third  person  '  herr 
man.'  But  as  degeneration  lessened  the  possessive 
ties  of  affection  and  united  affinity,  it  as  naturally  fol 
lows,  as  a  sequence  of  indifference,  that  the  syllables 
would  coalesce,  after  the  discovery  of  alien  claims, 
from  '  my  err'  (modern  error)  and  '  err-man'  into  a 
subjunctive  personality  for  common  appropriation,  as 
Meyer  and  Herman.  In  tracing  the  circumstantial 
proofs  confirmed  by  habit  from  the  end  of  innocence, 
where  the  tail  left  off,  or  ceased  to  exist  as  the  means 
of  suspension  in  hopeful  waiting  for  the  full-fledged 
merit  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  angelic  flight,  it 
is  easy  to  discover  the  perverse  incentives  that  led  to 
the  adoption  of  mysterious  hypocrisy  in  sequence  to 
the  audacious  assumption  of  direct  and  inspired  com 
munication  with  creative  power.  In  evidence  of  this 
train,  consequent  upon  the  adoption  of  the  speculative 
and  arbitrary  theory  of  Eve,  who  carried  to  excess  her 
spanking  proclivities  in  the  revengeful  spirit  of  repri 
sal  for  merited  misfortunes  incurred  from  her  own 
wilful  transgression,  we  have  found  that  like  begets 
like  unless  subjected  to  the  ruling  control  of  self- 
legislative  thought. 

' '  The  arbitrary  bias  established  by  the  theoretical 
practice  of  Eve,  in  reversion  upon  Cain,  has  proved 
an  irrevocable  precedent  which,  in  the  beginning 
produced  a  restive  influence  that  showed  a  disposition 
to  dethrone  Creative  Power  and  substitute  the  milita 
ting  devisements  of  Eve-generated  revenge  as  the  rul 
ing  attributes  of  the  vicarious  deity.  In  evidence  that 
knowledge  corrected  from  experience  was  ignored,  we 
have  only  to  trace  the  hieroglyphic  records  of  Egypt 
which  distinctly  depict  the  period  of  emergence  from 
a  quadrumanal  to  bipedal  state  and  the  Eve-generated 


154:  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE  OF 

•spirit  of  factional  discord.  A.S  with  hieroglyphic  repre 
sentation  of  scenes,  words  in  primitive  designation 
were  the  echoed  response  of  habits  and  customs,  and 
in  transmission  retain  their  original  signification,  even 
in  dialect  variation.  The  encyclopedia  of  lingual 
comparison  will  fully  attest  to  their  correct  corres 
pondence  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  date. 
The  present  generation,  although  subject  to  the  arti 
ficial  decrees  of  imposed  '  fashions '  are  held  in  sub 
serviency  by  the  same  ruling  manifestations  of  controll 
ing  instinctive  power  that  was  imparted  to  Cain  from 
the  hand  of  Eve.  In  Egyptian  and  Indian  hiero 
glyphic  depiction,  the  inference  from  man  in  bird  and 
animal  representation  amounts  to  a  direct  acknowl 
edgment  of  a  then  recent  evolution  from  a  kindred 
state.  But  in  the  detailed  chronological  succession  of 
ruling  power  it  is  easy  to  detect  in  the  traditional  re 
cord  of  the  Bible  a  correspondence  with  the  Egyptian, 
in  warlike  method,  that  subjected  the  laboring  masses 
to  a  servitude  infinitely  more  abject  and  hopeless  than 
the  sorriest  beasts  of  burden.  In  like  manner  this 
power  can  be  traced  through  all  the  avenues  of  writ 
ten  history,  to  the  enactments  of  the  present  day,  in  as 
legible  terms  as  those  furnished  by  the  active  promo 
ters  of  the  crusades.  Yet,  the  laboring  classes  still 
live  subject  to  these  causes,  which,  in  comparative  de 
gree,  reduces  them  to  become  automaton  targets  to 
each  others'  rifles,  or  drudges  with  a  starving  pittance 
from  the  doles  of  priest-craft  whom  their  miserable  in 
fatuation  supports  in  a  plurality  of  richly  endowed 
livings.  Now  let  us  contrast  these  self-condemned 
victims  of  indulgence  with  our  remnant  race  of  Gib 
bons  Orangs,  who  are  at  peace  with  themselves  and 
all  the  world  of  mankind,  for  they  are  held  in  rever 
ence  by  all  the  tribes  and  peoples  of  the  countries  of 
their  nativity,  and  see  what  compensation  civilized 
knowledge  affords  for  happiness  in  this  life,  or  in  pre 
paration  for  a  future  superior  to  theirs.  For  we  can 
not  realize  any  other  just  standard  than  that  which 
rewards  merit.  Bible  record  and  collateral  tradition 
ary  testimony,  confirmed  by  continued  habits  and  cus 
toms  when  divested  from  the  mysteries  of  religious 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        155 

faith,  all  attest  to  the  origin  affinity  of  the  races;  and 
the  implied  affirmation  of  '  scripture '  revelation  de 
tails  an  accumulation  of  woes  from  a  fall  that  pre 
supposes  a  position  occupied  above  the  earth. 

"The  reference  and  reverent  forbearance  shown  to  all 
the  long-tailed  species  of  the  orang  in  the  countries 
of  their  nativity  proclaims  an  exampled  belief  of  a  kin 
dred  origin  on  the  part  of  mankind.  This  tacit  ac 
knowledgment  is  further  sustained  by  direct  worship 
paid  to  their  living  divinities  by  nearly  one-half  of  the 
world's  existing  population;  for  the  Buddhists  were 
originally  orang  worshipers,  but  from  the  practical  de 
votion  of  Buddha  to  acts  of  affectionate  amelioration, 
not  only  for  the  improvement  of  his  own  species,  but 
for  the  kindly  recognition  and  abatement  of  animal 
suffering,  he  was  adopted  as  an  exemplar  exponent  of 
an  abounding  source  of  love. 

11  The  confiding  prosperity  of  the  Indians  under  the 
benignant  influence  of  his  example  soon  extended  to 
China  and  Tarfcary,  and  the  countries  west  of  India. 
But  his  death,  after  living  to  an  extraordinary  age, 
cherished  in  the  loving  source  of  vitality  by  worship 
ful  affection,  inaugurated  an  era  of  priestcraft,  founded 
upon  his  apotheosis,  and  from  thence  anarchy,  poverty, 
rapid  multiplication,  and  abject  servitude  held  discord 
ant  sway.  With  reverence,  from  creative  indications, 
we  will,  from  practical  experience,  assume  that  affec 
tionate  confidence  is  the  inspired  source  of  happiness 
that  offers  the  only  feasible  impression  in  forecast  for 
the  realization  of  convictions  consistent  with  the  ex 
tension  of  living  enjoyment  into  the  realms  of  infinity 
for  perfect  consummation. 

"Now  let  us  question  the  existing  sources  of  human 
happiness,  and  see  if  they  offer  a  chance  hope  for  pres 
ent  enjoyment,  as  a  basis  for  extension  to  the  realms 
of  infinity  when  relieved  from  the  soils  of  earthly 
probation. 

"Affection  is  a  term  w^rd,  that  expresses,  from  source, 
equality,  and  only  admits  of  superiority  in  kindly  ex 
pression. 

"Multiplied  divisibility,  means,  in  practical  demon 
stration,  diminution  in  size,  strength,  power  and  dura- 


156  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

bility.  The  Bible  curse,  denounced  against  the  germ- 
manic  successors  of  the  orang  antecedents,  was  the 
fruits  of  knowledge,  which  were  specially  designated 
in  result;  from  rapid  multiplication  of  the  species — in 
contra-distinction  to  previous  intention,  or  fact,  which 
had  incurred  the  penalty  of  labor,  and  poverty,  that 
in  a  literary  sense  begets  like.  All  who  are  capable  of 
realizing,  from  self-communion,  the  result  of  cause 
and  effect,  cannot  escape  the  evidence  of  the  Bible's 
truthful  verification  in  forecast  of  its  own  pages'  des 
cription  of  imposed 'habits  and  customs,  invoked  by 
priestcraft  for  the  superstitious  subjugation  of  the 
peoples  to  their  control.  Even  at  the  earliest  dates  of 
its  traditionary  record  we  are  advised  that  rites  and 
ceremonies  had  superseded  and  reduced  to  affectation 
the  evidences  of  confiding  reliance  which  inspires 
trustful  affection  for  an  abiding  equality.  With  the 
absolute  rule  of  priest  chieftains,  like  Moses  and 
Aaron,  who  exacted  burthensome  tithes  for  the  use  of 
the  Lord,  were  inaugurated  the  oppressions  which  rule 
at  the  present  day  and  deprive  the  laborer  of  the  hon 
est  products  of  his  toil,  to  increase  the  livings  of  the 
controllers  to  a  superabundance  in  excess  of  their  re 
quirements  But  now,  as  in  the  beginning,  when  sore 
oppressed  with  want  and  starvation  instead  of  com 
muning  individually  with  self,  to  study  its  responsi 
bility  as  a  representative  part  of  humanity,  person 
alities  congregate  to  agitate  the  questions  of  right, 
freedom,  and  equality,  for  reformation ;  and  then, 
with  or  without  a  resort  to  arms,  subside  into  the  old 
traditional  routine  of  servitude.  If  experience  had 
not  proved  itself  worthless  as  a  corrector  of  thought  • 
less  infatuation,  the  people  of  the  world  would  have 
long  since  discovered  that  in  striving  for  the  luxuries 
of  life  they  were  forging  the  fetters  of  misery.  Self- 
control  is  the  source  of  a  kindly  disposition,  and  in 
its  freedom  from  indulgence  for  self -gratification  im 
parts  its  spirit  of  contentment  to  others.  If  Adam 
and  Eve,  after  they  had  discovered  from  experience 
the  fatal  effects  of  self-indulgence,  had  learned  and 
imparted  to  their  children  the  repentant  power  of  self- 
control  for  transmitted  extension,  the  Israelitish  tra- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  157 

ditions  would  have  been  recorded  in  a  style  of  ex- 
ampled  contentment  that  would  have  reached,  at  this 
age,  the  verge  of  happy  perfection.  The  intercession 
of  the  previous  propositions  disjunctively,  would 
have  saved  innumerable  spanking  incentives  to  deadly 
revengeful  reprisals,  and  warful  contentions,  with  their 
diplomatic  congresses  for  the  division  of  spoils  in 
provocation  for  continued  contests.  While,  in  the 
absence  of  poverty  as  a  stimulant  for  litterary  fecun 
dity,  the  human  and  orang  cousins,  in  race  develop 
ment,  might  have  approached  nearer  an  equality  in 
population  and  the  natural  means  of  sustenance. 

"This  certainly  would  have  afforded  an  acceptable 
attainment  in  practical  knowledge,  proof  to  the  jealousy 
of  counter-accumulation,  and  occupation  of  territory  in 
excess  of  actual  requirements  necessary  for  the  encour 
agement  or  a  healthful  affection  in  freedom  from  the  al 
loy  of  greed.  The  attainment  of  knowledge  under  the 
fostering  care  of  kindly  experience, would  disseminate 
the  power  of  invention,  so  that  the  realities  of  progress 
in  the  arts  and  exact  sciences  would  become  general 
in  derivation,  instead  of  being  dependent,  as  at  pres 
ent,  upon  the  thoughtful  energies  of  isolated  individ 
uals.  To  our  unselfish  experience,  want  is  unknown, 
for  invention  anticipates  desire,  and  we  realize  actual 
joy  in  anticipating  associate  requirements;  so  that,  in 
the  place  of  phantasmal  ordinances  subject  to  secta 
rian  variations  in  fashions  of  administration,  we  de 
rive  affectionate  sustenance  from  an  ever-abiding 
source. 

"With  these  contrasted  lights  and  shadows,  we  will 
now  offer  for  your  consideration,  in  abstract,  the  rela 
tive  sources,  and  real  value  of  the  happiness  enjoyed 
by  the  progenitorial  orang,  in  comparison  with  the 
vaunted  afflatus  derived  from  the  written  traditions  of 
the  Israelites,  under  the  modern  renditions  of  devel- 
ment. 

" In  the  garden  investment  of  Saar-Soong,  the  orang 
lives  in  a  state  of  constant  activity,  realizing  in  flight 
from  limb  to  limb,  and  tree  to  tree,  a  germ-angelic  de 
velopment  evidently  intended  for  a  higher  evolution 


.  -r  THE 
,   XTlT.rj  cTrr.tr 


158     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

in  structural  perfection,  with  increased   capacity  for 
enjoyment. 

"His  knowledge  extends,  in  practical  development,  to 
the  exact  supply  of  his  wants,  and  an  innate  percep 
tion  of  the  means  to  be  used  for  the  assurance  of 
healthy  digestion. 

"In  its  extension  to  domestic,  and  associate  economy,  he 
recognizes,  in  fact,  the  co-operative  system  of  recipro 
cation,  in  obtaining  and  distributing  supplies;  and  in 
method  is  unostentatious  as  well  as  just;  and  he  inva 
riably  exhibits  toward  the  sick,  and  incapacitated, 
traits  of  self-denial  and  the  tenderest  care. 

"Experience,  with  the  orang,  is  treasured  as  a  tradi 
tionary  record  for  adoption,  and  avoidance,  of  things, 
and  habits,  agreeable,  and  disagreeable. 

"In  association  he  is  always  courteous  and  mirthful, 
and  when  alone  is  never  solitary  or  sad,  but  finds 
within  himself  an  abundant  resource  for  amusement, 
and  in  extremity  resorts  to  his  tail  as  a  never-ending 
source  of  enjoyment. 

"To  the  younger  members  of  the  Gibbang  he  is  an  ex- 
ampled  director,  and  their  strict  adherence  to  his  rule 
of  action,  shows  the  benefit  of  experienced  induction 
without  the  languaged  use  of  words. 

"Satisfactory  clothing,  and  lodging,  nature  supplies, 
with  but  little  labor  on  the  part  of  the  recipients  for 
comfortable  adaptation. 

"  His  Defensive  Means  of  Protection  against  adverse 
animalities  reside  solely  in  quick  detection  and  ade 
quate  powers  of  flight. 

"  This  sum  total  of  resource  and  adaptation  to  wants 
leaves  nothing  with  the  orang  beyond  the  reach  of  de 
sire.  But  that  you  may  understand  that  the  long- 
tailed  species  of  the  three  continents  are  not  deficient 
in  the  primitive  endowment  of  affectionate  alliance,  I 
will  relate  an  anecdote  in  which  I  was  a  careless,  but 
unintentional,  cause  of  pain,  and  resentful  sympathy 
on  the  part  of  a  chang  of  the  small  white-face  monkey 
of  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  Having  occasion  to  stop  for 
a  season  among  the  natives  of  the  beautifully  located 
upland  hamlet  of  Gatun,  before  the  Panama  Railroad 
had  extended  to  it  the  "  benefits"  of  civilization,  in  re- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  159 

turning  from  a  successful  wood-dove  hunt,  I  was  pur 
sued  by  a  small  chang  of  the  usually  curiously  peaceful 
white-faced  monkies. 

"Contrary  to  their  usual  habits,  they  scolded  and 
offensively  sought  to  annoy  me.  When  clear  of  the 
wooded  banks  of  the  Chagres  River,  and  in  near  ap 
proach  to  the  bamboo  hut  of  my  entertainers,  I  dis 
charged  the  remaining  loaded  barrel  of  my  gun  in  the 
direction  of  the  still  defiantly  chattering  chang,  with 
out  thinking  that  they  were  within  range  of  the  small 
shot  charge.  Great  was  my  surprise  and  sorrow  when 
I  saw  one  fall  to  the  ground,  and  the  others  drop  to 
suppori;  it,  which  they  did  in  as  anxious  and  tender  a 
manner  as  it  was  possible  to  conceive.  Really  grieved, 
I  laid  aside  my  gun  and  approached  the  agitated 
group  to  learn  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  injury  I 
had  carelessly  inflicted. 

"  As  their  curiously  intelligent  sympathies  were  too 
much  occupied  with  the  examination  of  the  seat  of  the 
wound  to  heed  my  movements  I  gained  the  screen  of 
a  plantain  within  a  few  rods  of  them,  so  that  I  was 
able  to  obtain  a  good  view  of  their  proceedings. 

"The  victim  was  stretched  out  at  full  length  on 
his  back,  with  his  limbs  extended,  upon  the  principle 
of  the  rack  of  the  inquisition,  by  the  hands  of  his 
companions,  while  two  of  the  elders  passed  theirs  over 
the  surface  to  detect  the  wounds.  I  was  gladly  re 
lieved  to  see  that  there  was  no  flow  of  blood,  and  con 
cluded  that  he  had  been  frightened  by  the  sting  of 
spent  shot.  Ihis  was  confirmed  by  the  result  of  the 
examination,  for  he  was  soundly  cuffed  for  the  false 
alarm,  and  was  glad  to  betake  himself  from  their 
hands  to  the  trees  with  the  rest  of  the  chang  in  full 
pursuit,  intent  upon  his  punishment.  The  enactment 
was,  in  delineation,  so  closely  allied  to  human  inter 
pretation  of  a  kindred  investigation,  that,  in  relief  from 
my  self-accusing  fears,  it  caused  me  to  laugh  heartily 
But  as  you  become  more  intimately  acquainted  with 
our  orangs  of  direct  caste  descent  from  the  species  of 
Adam  and  Eve  before  their  fall,  you  will  be  enabled 
to  understand  better  their  capacity  for  the  practical 
adaptation  of  exampled  knowledge  to  the  exact  re- 


160  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

quirements  of  want  without  the  incumbrance  of  theo 
retical  superabundance  for  the  speculative  reduction 
of  the  majority  to  subservient  dependency  upon  the 
accumulative  disposition  of  the  minority. 

"  The  incident  that  I  have  related  of  the  sagacity  of 
the  American  monkey  orang,  will  serve  to  show  that 
their  scientific  experience  founded  upon  knowledge,  in 
investigation,  did  not  take  into  consideration  the  va 
riations  in  effect  produced  by  distance  and  other  con 
tingent  circumstances  relevant  to  the  use  of  the  gun, 
and  in  consequence  they  punished  the  slightly  injured 
as  a  cowardly  impostor,  because  his  body  did  not  ex 
hibit  the  evidences  of  blood  which  they  had  found  in 
a  previous  example  But,  as  with  the  lineal  prototype 
orang  of  the  Evo-Adamic  race,  they  held  their  pow 
ers  of  procreation  subservient  to  the  fruitful  supply  of 
the  forests  and  plantations  in  freedom  from  labored 
cultivation.  Yet  when  captured  and  confined  in  cages 
for  the  gratification  of  their  inhuman  cousins'  gazing 
curiosity,  they  became  subject  to  the  effect  of  major 
example,  and  withal  litter-ary  in  tendency.  With  this 
exampled  sum  of  the  negative  and  positive  capabilities 
of  the  orang  race  for  enjoyment,  inasmuch  as  we  are 
enabled  to  judge  from  studied  observation,  we  will  now 
endeavor  to  present  in  a  manner  as  truthfully  concise, 
the  realized  superiority  of  human  attainments  under 
the  auspices  of  knowledge  and  experience  for  its  prac 
tical  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  comfort,  and 
the  realization  of  a  future  existence  from  the  treasured 
merits  of  the  present. 

"Knowledge,  with  humanity,  is  based  upon  education  ! 
And  the  first  step  to  be  taken  is  the  speaking  attain 
ment  of  language  designed,  perhaps,  for  the  expression 
of  thought;  but  in  customary  use  it  is  made  the  medi 
um  for  the  intercommunication  of  sensational  emo 
tions,  derived  from  the  organs  of  perception. 

"  Mathematical  calculation  is  the  next  upward  step  in 
the  ladder  of  promotion,  and  when  combined  with  a 
systematic  method  of  registry  for  the  balance  of  in 
debtedness,  the  education  status  of  the  mercantile  fac 
tor  is  completed  for  the  battle  strife  between  gain  and 
loss  in  life.  Upon  the  foundation  of  these  acquisitions 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  161 

is  reared  the  superstructure  of  collegiate  and  profes 
sional  accomplishments  for  sapping,  with  genteel  pre 
tense,  the  accumulations  of  the  productive  and  trading 
ranks.  These  distinctions  are  practically  sufficient  for 
the  elucidation  of  civilized  attainments  in  the  art  of 
obtaining  a  livelihood,  and  the  chimerical  advantage  of 
knowledge  as  a  literary  substitute  for  a  tail.  For  all 
claims  above  an  existence,  in  sustained  variation  be 
tween  the  limits  of  luxury  and  starvation,  the  pleasure 
of  seeing,  hearing,  tasting  and  talking,  in  gossip  and 
congregation,  can  be  referred,  and  what  are  these,  as 
a  source  of  happiness,  if  they  excite  no  deeper  emo 
tions  than  for  the  critical  discussion  of  events  adverse 
to  confidential  trust  without  seeking  for  the  means  to 
substitute  prevention  for  cause. 

"The  orang  in  his  native  state,  unbiased  by  the  ex 
ample  of  human  association,  lives  in  peace  with  his 
kind,  and  barely  keeps  the  numbers  of  his  chang  good 
from  reproduction,  although  free  from  the  destructive 
agencies  self-incurred  by  mankind,  in  addition  to  natu 
ral  causes.  He  is  actively  provident  and  affectionate, 
and  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  from  renewed  experience, 
makes  his  appetite  subservient  to  the  requirements  of 
health.  In  association  he  is  amusing  and  domestic, 
taking  particular  delight  in  giving  exampled  instruc 
tion  to  his  children  in  germ -orang  gymnastry.  which 
suffices  as  an  educational  means  of  support  and  loco 
motion,  and  when  alone,  or  in  company,  he  is  never 
desolate,  lonely,  or  embarrassed,  for  his  tail  affords  him 
a  constant  source  of  amusement  and  occupation,  with 
out  the  aid  of  scissors,  tongue,  or  sewing  machine. 
These  ample  sources  of  happiness,  which  would  be 
gladly  acknowledged  as  sufficient  by  the  multiplying 
human  drudges  of  starving  toil  and  warring  destruc 
tion  who  enjoy  the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
are  despised  in  usage  with  their  sinless  progenitors, 
simply  because  they  realize  the  benefits  of  a  tail  with 
out  faith  gained  by  the  knowledge  of  transgression. 
The  ordinances  of  sectarian  priestcraft,  which  were 
so  fearfully  inaugurated  by  the  rival  sacrifices  of  Cain 
and  Abel,  and  have  been  perpetuated  with  character 
istic  creed  divisions  in  multiplied  succession,  with  the 


162  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

original  leaven  still  at  work,  and  so  inwrought  with 
example  as  to  become  an  emotional  instinct,  declare 
with  prima  facie  evidence  that  religion  was  the  curse 
that  was  evolved,  as  the  woe  of  knowledge,  that  would 
resist  the  proof  of  experience  for  happy  improvement. 
To  show  the  ignorant  opposition  to  the  Creator's  natu 
ral  decrees,  still  patronized  by  church  superstitions, 
we  will  take  the  approved  representations  of  angelic 
beings,  with  wings  attached  to  the  immovable  scapula 
back  of  the  arms,  which  in  orang  freedom  of  move 
ment  declare  fledged  intention, with  the  body  arid  limbs' 
pendant  weight  in  naked  resistance  to  the  draught  of 
perpendicular  flight.  However  absurd  this  ridiculous 
devisement  of  man  may  appear,  in  connection  with  the 
nullified  tail,  necessary  as  a  rudder  parachute  of  di 
rection  and  support,  upon  investigation,  with  the  aid 
of  thought,  the  whole  fabric  of  religious  belief  will 
prove  as  ill  adapted  for  the  fulfillment  of  happy 
intention. 

•'  Father  Odorat  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kantkin,  our 
missionary  guests,  would  have  undoubtedly  urged — 
before  they  felt  the  influence  of  regenerating  tail  faith 
— that  all  things  are  possible  with  God!  But  does 
not  this  foolish  resort  reflect  the  hopeless  misery  of 
the  world's  generations  as  in  tenfold  degree  deserved 
for  a  stupidity  that  directly  accuses  the  Creator  of 
perpetrating  inconsistent  acts  for  his  creatures'  bewil 
derment  ?  As  you  will  perceive,  our  successful  attain 
ments  in  happiness  have  been  derived  from  our  en 
deavors  to  make  knowledge  available  by  profiting  from 
experienced  example  in  forecast  for  provisional  pre 
vention  of  deleterious  cause.  For  the  accomplishment 
of  this  object,  as  you  are  realizing,  we  commence  where 
the  tail  left  off  for  the  inauguration  of  knowledge  upon 
the  precautionary  basis  of  experience,  in  avoidance  of 
the  theoretical  faith  for  the  achievement  of  impossi 
bilities. 

"  With  well-tried  affection  for  the  foundation,  we 
have  secured  such  happy  developments  of  confiding 
contentment,  that  we  are  enabled  to  realize  the  im 
pressions  of  a  consistent  future  from  present  enjoy 
ment.  But  as  I  have  trenched  in  some  respects  upon 


M.  SHAWTINBAOH  IN  SUMATBA.        163 

Doctor  Olu's  department,  we  will  now  adjourn  to  listen 
to  his  garden  chata." 


CHATA  THIRD. 

Doctor  Olu  Babi  in  commencing  his  discourse,  said : 

' '  From  due  consideration  and  well  advised  observa 
tion,  we  cannot  escape  the  conviction  that  from  pre- 
cedented  infatuation,  under  the  style  of  religion  and 
patriotism,  Church  and  State  individualities  have  be 
come  hypochondriacs  of  the  most  irremediable  descrip 
tion.  The  jostling  bustle  attendant  upon  the  supply 
of  artificial  wants  has  so  metamorphosed  personal  re 
sponsibility  that  it  no  longer  recognizes  self  as  an  in 
tegral  dependency  for  current  reciprocation,  but  pre 
sents  itself  as  an  absorptive  centre  of  attraction  for  ac 
cumulation  and  misery  it  entails,  from  required  watch 
ful  care  to  preserve  it  from  the  encroachments  of 
neighborly  enterprise;  for  under  this  style  we  are,  upon 
analysis,  "obliged  to  consider  property  contentions 
which  have  recourse  to  law  for  adjustment.  Notwith 
standing  our  manifest  desire  to  impart  the  happy  re 
sult  of  our  experience  as  a  practical  resource  for  the 
attainment  of  contentful  enjoyment,  we  are  perfectly 
well  aware  that  the  imparted  zeal  of  Cain  has  been 
embittered  in  transmission,  so  that  it  no  longer  de 
rives  sufficient  satisfaction  from  present  revenge,  but 
has  conjured  from  hate  the  devisement  of  a  hell  for  the 
ambitious  display  of  ingenuity  in  the  inquisitorial  arts 
for  agonizing  cruelty.  Fortunately  oar  joyful  armor 
of  proof  has  placed  us  beyond  the  reach  of  these  re 
vealed  Christian  charities  which  advocate  that  there 
cau  be  no  wrong  in  exacting  from  the  soulless  machines, 
without  the  pale  of  sectarian  faith  inaugurated  by  Cain 
and  Abel,  the  utmost  misery  it  is  possible  for  them  to 
inflict.  On  the  contrary,  they  esteem  it  a  source  of 
righteous  merit  to  make  them  succumb  to  the  dicta 
tions  of  the  Church. 

"In  passing  proof  of  this  statement,  your  own  ex 
perience  will  afford  ample  evidence,  but  a  recent  por- 


164  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

trayal  in  the  cosmopolitan  city  of  San  Francisco,  Cal 
ifornia,  will  render  the  truth  more  legible  for  your 
comprehension.  In  a  recent  ministerial  convention, 
in  the  above-named  city,  to  devise  means  for  the  en 
forcement  of  Sunday  laws,  to  keep  the  day  holy  as  a 
day  of  rest,  according  to  their  interpretation,  an  Irish 
representative  asserted  that  the  Chinese  were  mere 
machines,  but  applauded  a  negro  bishop  of  Methodism 
whose  fanatic  zeal  exhibited  a  strong  predisposition  to 
the  gorilla's  method  of  righteous  argument.  Fact 
demonstration  reveals  that  the  Chinese  have  degen 
erated  from  like  confusing  causes,  and  have  passed 
through  in  their  degradation  the  destructive  civilized 
stages  which  are  now  the  boast  of  Christian  nations  ; 
but  with  the  advantage  of  a  united  faith  in  reverential 
respect  for  the  ordinances  of  paternal  authority  for 
religious  transmission,  which  reduces  the  ties  of  affec 
tion  to  a  ritual  observance  void  of  the  essentials  of 
unity  that  reflect  in  reciprocation  to  the  primal  source. 

"Yet,  withal,  the  advantage  of  this  parental  in 
volvement  of  priest-craft  rites,  as  a  family  source  of 
heir-loom  reverence,  presents  in  an  obvious  light  free 
dom  from  congregated  sectarianism  ;  that,  as  in  the 
instance  related  of  our  sojourn  in  a  New  England 
town,  holds  a  day  holy  for  ignoring  the  kindly  con 
gratulations  of  neighborly  sympathy  on  account  of 
creed  variations.  The  troubled  Christian  anxiety  with 
regard  to  the  Chinese  machines  arises  from  the  diffi 
culty  of  making  the  pagan  locomotive  adapt  itself  to 
the  narrow-gauge  track  of  church  restrictions  and  in- 
dulgencies,  which  in  reaction  furnish  priestly  and 
saloon  revenues,  and  would  leave  the  poor  dupes  with 
out  an  obolus  wherewith  to  pay  the  pious  and  patri 
otic  ferriage  charged  for  the  transportation  of  rela 
tive's  bones  across  the  Pacific  styx  to  the  flowery  king 
dom  of  their  Celestial  hopes. 

"  As  guests,  in  freedom  from  the  self-delusive  am 
bition  of  citizenship,  we  found  them  in  the  United 
States  submissive  to  enlightened  imposition,  indus 
trious,  imitatively  ingenious,  temperate  (we  general 
ize  in  speaking  of  a  people's  habits,  and  do  not  make 
exceptions  the  rule  of  condemnation  as  a  leper,  and 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  165 

uncleanly  habits  from  the  necessity  of  crowded  con 
gregation,  or  a  comparatively  few  opium  smokers,  hold 
the  same  ratio  of  influence  with  the  Chinese  as  like 
evils  with  other  nations),  peaceful,  frugal,  and  less 
inclined  to  steal  than  the  representative  citizens  of 
Christian  nationalities.  Indeed,  the  tail  memorial,  as 
a  symbol  of  the  transition  of  the  supporting  faculties 
from  their  original  location  to  the  head,  affords  a  rev 
erential  token  of  respect  for  original  source  of  pater 
nity,  in  strong  contrast  with  the  mechanical  manifes 
tations  of  faith  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  descent 
from  Israel,  who  cumber  their  persons  with  the  ritual 
devices  of  impression,  without  bestowing  a  thought  in 
sympathy  for  their  first  parents'  bereavement,  that  de 
prived  them  of  the  unfledged  rudder  appendage  des 
tined  in  full  fruition  for  angelic  flight. 

"When  a  nation  offers  a  citizen  asylum  to  all  claim 
ants,  it  certainly  cannot,  with  justice,  repudiate  those  of 
one  type,  to  favor  others,  because  they  set  a  worthy  ex 
ample  of  temperance  and  frugality,  and  choose  a  method 
of  worship  in  freedom  from  sectarian  sources  of  dis 
cord  !  The  Chinese  freely  admit  that  they  are  able  to 
improve  greatly  by  an  association  with  the  people  of 
other  nationalities,  under  the  influence  of  their  daily 
home  avocations,  and  are  willing  to  serve  as  domestics 
that  they  may  be  able  to  transmit  all  that  is  good  for 
their  own  people's  imitation.  If  christianized  civiliza 
tion  really  wished  to  benefit  this  populous  empire,  and 
convert  it  from  heathenism,  they  could  not  desire,  in 
reason,  a  better  opportunity  for  the  exampled  transfer 
of  practical  goodness,  and  thereby  save  the  pennies, 
grubbed  from  the  laboring  poor,  for  the  support  of 
missionaries  in  China,  who  only  serve,  from  example, 
to  confirm  the  people  in  the  practice  of  their  own  rit 
ualistic  style  of  paganism,  that  reverences  parental 
authority  as  the  legitimate  source  of  priestly  direction. 
Even  our  coolies  become  confirmed  in  the  belief  that 
with  all  the  superiority  of  your  art  attainments  in  war, 
and  the  prestige  it  afforded  for  forced  accumulation, 
they  preferred  their  simple  practical  worship  devoted 
to  the  tail  of  the  orang  as  the  supporting  medium  of 
ancestral  contentment,  before  it  was  sacrificed  for  the 


166  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

gratification  of  cupidity.     We  have  now  arrived  at  the 
stage  where  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  consider 

" The  bearing ,  and  impression,  derived  from  the  genera, 
order,  and  specie  of  tails,  in  adaptation  to  fore 
ordained  intention. 

"Now  that  you  have  become  familiar  with,  and  have 
felt  the  regenerating  influence  of  tail  faith,  in  the  be 
lief  of  its  efficacy  as  the  ante-source  of  human  con 
tentment,  designed  in  evolvement  for  the  full  perfec 
tion  of  angelic  flight,  we  will  offer  for  your  recogni 
tion  the  functional  distinctions  derived  from  attribut 
ive  cause.  If  you  will  direct  your  attention  to  the 
youthful  pair  of  orangs,  who  are  disporting  themselves 
in  tail  suspension  from  a  limb  of  yonder  oak,  you  can 
not  fail  to  perceive  in  their  forms  a  graceful  tendency 
that  bespeaks  angelic  intention.  Not  that  in  their 
present  state,  we  can  realize  more  than  the  initial  of 
intention  for  evolvement;  still,  in  contrast  with  the  be 
reaved  human  form  the  pre-eminence  of  adaptation  is 
as  conspicuous  as  the  ridiculous  memorial  adjustment 
of  an  artificial  tail  to  the  Chinese  head,  with  its  ton 
sure  aids  to  eke  out  a  resemblance  that  should  betoken 
the  emblematic  cause  of  its  promotion. 

"  As  the  orang  tail  is  sacred,  from  its  primal  attach 
ment  to  our  progenitors  while  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  happy  state  of  contentment,  before  the  cupidity 
of  desire  led  them  to  taste  of  fermented  toddy,  cider, 
and  like  luxurious  aggravations,  and  possesses  within 
itself  distinctive  attributes  of  elevation,  we  will  first 
demonstrate  the  peculiarities  of  its  adaptability  to  the 
human  form  divine.  You  will  observe  that  the  younger 
orang,  when  blindfolded  so  that  he  cannot  avail  him 
self  of  sight,  neither  of  smell  nor  hearing,  is  able  to  de 
tect,  from  the  perception  of  touch,  the  qualities  of 
substances  placed  within  the  grasp  of  his  tail.  Now, 
if  this  instinct  in  one  so  young  shows  such  a  ready 
perception  of  corresponding  innate  attributes  in  rela 
tion  to  good  or  bad  qualities  of  objects  subjected  to 
the  tail's  prehensile  test,  we  can  readily  appreciate  the 
source  of  contentment  it  afforded  to  Adam  and  Eve  as 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  167 

the  most  highly  endowed  organ  of  their  bodies.  Its 
connection  with  the  adjoining  parts  has  even  in  be 
reavement  left  a  hallowed  impression  sacred  to  the  in 
stincts  of  mortality  in  consecration  for  the  devout  evi 
dences  of  worship  which  still  prevails  over  the  trans- 
versed  functions  of  volition  to  the  then  nether  termi 
nation  of  the  spinal  chord,  now  known  as  the  brain. 

"  These  worshipful  evidences  displayed  for  the  tail's 
centre  of  gravity  in  suspension  and  in  the  upright 
walk  of  mortality  bespeak  the  importance  of  its  adjunct 
attachment  as  the  herald  nucleus  for  fledged  angelic 
flight  and  the  miserable  compensation  derived  from 
the  brain  as  the  seat  of  knowledge,  which  in  division 
remains  servile  to  the  instincts  of  its  former  adverse 
incorporation. 

' '  Its  ornamental  pretension  to  beauty,  even  in  its 
unfledged  condition,  your  judgment  will  pronounce 
elegant  in  comparison  with  the  uncouth  baboons'  and 
the  artificial  substitutes  adopted  by  fashionable  females 
of  the  human  species.  The  amusing  and  useful  attain 
ments  of  a  highly  accomplished  orang  tail  exceed  in 
poetical  description  our  utmost  powers  of  designal 
enumeration.  But  we  must  not  overlook  the  Gibbons 
orang's  missionary  labors  in  behalf  of  our  bereaved 
mortality.  We  have  learned  from  my  Kubu  grand 
child  that  the  initial  process  of  their  practical  labors 
in  behalf  of  our  bereaved  race  for  renewed  regenera 
tion  commence  with  the  forward  and  inward  pressure 
of  the  sacral  attachment  of  the  pelvic  alse  while  in  a 
state  of  rudimentary  ossification.  By  this  process  the 
coccygeal,  or  tail  portion,  is  forced  within  their  reach 
for  elongating  manipulation,  which  is  accomplished  in 
the  queue-bandage  style  of  Louis  XIV;  so  that  at  the 
age  of  three,  by  gymnastic  muscular  tail  training,  a 
perceptible  wag  is  made  manifest  in  token  of  pleasur 
able  sensation.  But  up  to  that  period  daily  exercise 
is  necessary  for  the  development  of  its  emotional  sen 
sations  of  piety,  else,  as  with  the  unsanctified  in  faith, 
they  would  be  liable  to  anchylosis  from  re-ossification. 

"  When  the  functions  of  regeneration  are  fully  estab 
lished,  in  inceptive  proportion,  a  very  laudable  expres 
sion  of  atoning  grace  has  been  achieved.  But  by  the 


168  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

practical  energy  of  my  grandson  Convert's  surgical 
knowledge  he  has  rendered  full  regeneration  possible; 
bnt  as  it  is  sectarian  in  policy  it  is  not  practicable  ex 
cept  in  isolated  cases  of  extreme  unction,  when  the 
sacral  substitute  fails  to  impart  to  the  convert  a  hope 
ful  idea  of  sufficiency  for  salvation.  The  Kubu,  who 
is  using  his  tail  as  an  expressive  baton  of  exhortation 
while  addressing  his  companions,  was  a  Gibbons  con 
vert,  but  from  some  cause  his  evidence  of  successful 
regeneration  neither  sufficed  in  contour  or  length  to 
afford  him  the  full  consolation  of  redeeming  grace,  and 
he  fell  into  a  despairing  way  like  unto  that  so  wofully 
described  in  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress.  All  our  en 
deavors  to  inspire  in  him  a  hopeful  faith  in  its 
sufficiency  signally  failed,  and  with  his  eyes  turned 
downward  over  his  sinister  shoulder  he  constantly  be 
moaned,  with  a  wry  neck,  its  sad  deficiency.  The 
Gibbons,  who  listens,  watches,  and  casts  an  occasional 
sullen  look  behind,  half  meuancing  and  reproachful, 
in  view  of  his  curtailed  condition,  was  the  scandal  of 
his  chaiig,  and  although  well  endowed  he  used  his  tail 
as  a  tantalizing  aggravation  to  the  poor  doubting  Kubu 
sinner,  and  in  despite  of  the  worthy  presbyters,  and 
our  own  warnings,  committed  many  acts  of  wanton 
despoliation,  and  then  in  mocking  defiance  would  hang 
suspended  beyond  the  reach  of  pursuit. 

"  This  apostasy  at  last  culminated  in  his  committing 
the  unpardonable  sin  of  bruising  the  broken  reed  of 
the  poor  Kubu's  hopes,  and  was  caught  in  the  very  act 
by  Convert's  father,  who  secured  him,  after  a  long 
struggle,  and  brought  him  to  the  Holm  for  trial.  His 
father,  and  the  whole  chang  of  Gibbons,  were  rejoiced 
at  his  capture,  and  showed  a  strong  predisposition  to 
the  modern  Universalist  creed  in  their  desire  to  subject 
him  to  a  hell  in  this  world,  instead  of  trusting  to  retri 
butive  justice  in  the  next;  for  they  plucked  his  tail, 
and  spurned  the  part  of  its  attachment,  with  the  foot 
vigor  of  the  most  inveterate  civilized  scorn,  and  could 
not  be  made  to  desist  from  their  efforts  to  make  him 
feel  his  outcast  condition,  until  we  caged  him  for  a 
more  just  and  mature  trial  for  sentence. 

''Although   he   showed  such  symptoms   of  repent- 


M.  6HAWTTNBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        169 

ance  as  are  usually  produced  upon  a  criminal  confined 
and  humbled  by  a  low  diet,  it  was  adjudged  that  he 
should  make  restitution  from  his  own  tail  to  the  Ku- 
bus'  regenerated,  which  he  had  mutilated  in  seven-fold 
degree.  In  accordance  with  the  decree,  he  was  re 
duced  to  anesthetic  insensibility  with  an  etherial  tinc 
ture  of  bang,  while  Convert  made  the  transfer  with 
Shylock  precision.  When  the  operation  was  com 
pleted,  under  its  effects  the  lessor  and  lessee  were  ac 
commodated  with  caged  apartments  in  full  view  of 
each  other,  with  their  hands  confined  so  that  if  prompt 
ed  by  curiosity  to  learn  the  cause  of  unwonted  sore 
ness,  they  could  not  interfere  with  the  healing  process. 

Their  first  impression,  on  recovering  from  ansesthe- 
sia  and  finding  themselves  confronted  with  each  other 
and  sore  in  those  parts  sacred  to  hopeful  faith,  seemed 
to  be  mutual  accusation,  and  on  the  part  of  the  re 
creant  Gibbons  a  scornful  leer,  which  plainly  intima 
ted  that,  with  the  opportunity,  he  would  finish  his 
work  and  reduce  the  poor  Kubu  to  the  hopeless  caste 
of  manhood.  The  Kubu,  on  the  contrary,  exhibited  a 
meek  and  lowly  spirit  of  sinful  depression,  as  if  in 
deprecation  of  the  anger  of  his  would-be  tormentor. 
At  this  stage  of  grimaced  expression  of  animosity  and 
meekness,  the  Gibbons  made  a  motion  as  if  he  would 
flourish  his  sceptre  tail  as  an  aggravation  to  show  the 
poor  aspiring  creature  of  humanity  the  utter  impossi 
bility  of  his  ever  being  able  to  attain,  by  reconversion, 
the  orang's  privileged  state  of  joyful  contentment. 
When  the  summons  of  volition  returned  a  twinge  of 
pain  and  no  tail  appeared,  the  head  and  eyes  were, 
upon  the  moment,  turned  backward  to  learn  the  cause. 
To  describe  the  effect  produced  by  this  glance  would 
be  impossible;  we  will  therefore  concisely  state  that 
his  appearance  in  transition  from  defiant  confidence, 
to  the  extreme  of  despair,  was  in  graphic  demonstra 
tion  the  perfection  of  de-monkeyfied  demoralization. 

"An  over-arrogant  general,  who  has  been  defeated 

in  a  battle,  or  a  man,  or   woman,    suddenly   shorn   of 

court  tail,  or  train,  at  a  queen's   reception,    might   for 

the  moment  shadow  his  wo-begone  consternation,  and 

8 


170  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

shame;  but  Adam,  and  Eve,  and  their  sun,  and  moon, 
defaulting  contemporaries,  could  alone  realize  the  utter 
prostration  of  his  vainglorious  ambition.  His  fixed 
stare  at  the  bereaved  relic — or  in  mortal  parlance, 
stub  of  a  tail — attracted  the  pitying  attention  of  his 
Kubu  victim,  who  had  borne  his  pitiless  scorn,  and 
actual  despite,  that  sought  to  injure  and  deprive  him 
of  his  germ-orang  hope  of  salvation;  but  when  he  dis 
covered  the  source  of  his  woe,  he  could  not  restrain  a 
momentary  glance  of  exultation,  and  a  pious  move 
ment,  that  seemed  to  recognize  the  curtail  as  a  just 
judgment  for  his  own  unmerited  sufferings.  This 
change  of  position,  with  accession  of  pain  from  the 
tailoplastic  ingraft  of  muscular  fibres,  and  vertebral 
axis  junction,  directed  his  attention  to  the  part.  A 
start  of  half-bewildered  surprise  followed  this  move 
ment,  then  in  quick  succession  a  glad  tremor,  as  he 
traced  to  his  own  back  the  origin  of  this  miraculous 
fulfillment  of  his  despondent  longings.  But  when  his 
caressing  touch  failed  to  produce  the  expected  ecstacy 
in  revulsion,  his  countenance  became  again  overshad 
owed  with  doubtful  fears,  which  caused  him  to  rub  his 
eyes,  and  touch  the  various  parts  of  his  body,  for  the 
confirmation  of  his  senses,  that  he  still  represented 
himself  in  personality.  "When  assured  of  his  personal 
identity,  and  the  real  attachment  of  the  contentful 
prize  to  his  body,  and  that  its  movement  caused  pain, 
his  countenance  assumed  that  self-complacent  benign 
expression,  so  happily  portrayed  by  the  convert  to 
baptism,  as  his  nose  in  emergence  from  the  watery 
bath  of  faith  regeneration,  heralds,  with  ripples,  the 
sneeze  of  relief  that  will  announce  the  ritual  success 
of  the  purifying  element  upon  that  organ.  From 
that  time  forth,  until  the  healing  union  was  fully  in 
corporated  in  graft;  his  nursing  care  required  no 
prompting  to  insure  its  transferred  embodiment,  and 
when  emotional  sensations  in  transmission  began  to 
attest,  with  movement  from  volition,  the  successful 
nervous  and  muscular  adaptation  to  first  intention,  his 
countenance  assumed  a  beatific  expression  of  content 
ment  that,  in  backward  tendency,  showed  that  knowl 
edge,  with  him,  would  in  future  yield  to  experience. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  171 

"  Although  drearily  noted  for  his  volubility,  before 
the  transfer  assured  him  of  a  full  sufficiency  of  re 
deeming  grace  for  salvation  from  the  penalties  of  theo 
retical  knowledge,  he  afterwards  became  meditatively 
so  absorbed  with  the  material  beauty  of  his  acquired 
title  to  the  blissful  realms  of  self-inspiration,  that  he 
gave  no  heed  to  the  repentant  groans  of  the  bereaved 
orang  who  had  been  reduced  to  a  more  hopeless  con 
dition  than  the  Kubu  convert.  In  truth,  the  steadfast 
gaze  of  the  bereaved  Gibbons  upon  the  relic  stump  of 
his  departed  glory,  caused  some  qualnn  of  self-reproof 
on  our  part  as  we  questioned  our  right  of  disposal. 
But  as  we  could  not  restore  his  lost  member  without 
reducing  the  Kubu  to  a  more  hopeless  condition  than 
that  from  which  we  had  redeemed  him,  we  concluded 
that  it  was  best  to  abide  by  our  act  and  endeavor  to 
reconcile  him  to  his  lost  condition  by  persuading  him 
to  look  forward  instead  of  behind,  and  count  his  loss 
as  another's  gain.  These  persuasions  only  led  him  to 
regard  us  reproachfully  with  his  proximal  eye,  which 
showed  so  little  faith  in  the  charitable  intention  of  our 
expostulations  that  his  nether  optic  never  relinquished 
its  hold  upon  the  past. 

"  When  in  the  third  week  they  were  released,  the 
orang  followed  the  regenerated  Kubu  with  a  sullen 
despondency  that  seemed  to  be  under  the  control  of 
superstitious  fear.  As  the  operation  and  transfer  was 
intended  not  only  to  test  the  feasibility  of  like  incor 
poration  with  like,  but  the  reality  of  derivation  from 
the  same  generic  source,  also  to  trace  in  effect  the  im 
pressions  that  have  imparted  to  humanity  a  belief  in 
miraculous  interpositions,  it  was  withheld  as  a  seeret, 
known  only  to  the  members  of  the  household. 

"  When  the  members  of  the  Gibbons'  chang  saw 
their  late  recreant  kin  representative  following  his  de 
posed  tail,  in  transferred  adoption  by  the  Kubu  con 
vert,  whose  regenerated  germ-caudality  had  been  re 
vived  from  their  missionary  labors,  which  he  had  re 
viled  and  mutilated,  they  appeared  to  doubt  the  truth 
fulness  of  their  own  vision,  and  turned  one  to  another 
for  the  associate  assurance  of  like  visual  configuration. 
When  the  reality  was  fully  made  apparent,  from  a  dis- 


172  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

tant  reverential  investigation  of  the  relative  facts— for 
they  did  not  venture  to  avail  themselves  of  touch  for 
the  more  convincing  test  of  actual  transfer — they 
alternately  scratched  their  haunches  and  heads,  as  if 
in  appeal  to  those  parts,  they  questioned,  '  If  these 
things  are  thus,  how  came  they  so  ?' 

"  When  assured  that  there  was  no  tail  of  mouse  or 
fly  within  the  telescopic  lens  of  their  eyes  for  optical 
delusion,  they  set  upon  the  poor  de-tailed  Gibbons 
and  drove  him  from  the  inclosure,  and  reviled  him  with 
germ-orang  missiles  of  defilement  derived  from  their 
soils  offaled  source  of  conception,  which  in  germ-manic 
word  conversion  has  now  become  so  universally  preva 
lent  as  the  mouth  and  pen  means  of  hereditary  ex 
pression  in  civilized  association.  For  a  time  we  were 
at  a  loss  in  our  endeavors  to  learn  whether  they  con 
sidered  him  an  Esau  who  had  sold  his  birthright  and 
thereby  imperiled  those  of  his  kindred,  which  entitled 
him  to  rank  as  a  Judas,  or  that  the  miraculous  transfer 
was  an  O-men  that  betokened  their  degradation  to 
manhood  and  the  regeneration  of  our  race  as  the  fruits 
of  their  missionary  labors,  which  were  to  be  improved, 
to  their  cost,  for  our  pre-Adamic  reinvestment.  But 
we  are  certain  that  they  labored  under  an  apprehen 
sion  of  the  kind,  for  they  studiously  avoided  inter 
course  with  their  Kubu  converts,  and  were  shy  in  their 
approaches  to  the  Holm.  The  Kubus,  on  the  contrary, 
looked  upon  the  transfer  of  Gibbons'  tail,  not  only  as  a 
retributive  punishment  for  the  inorangity  of  the  loser 
in  mutilating  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  Kubu  convert, 
but  as  a  prophetic  sign  of  the  final  fulfilment  of  their 
hopes  of  tail  translation  in  evolvement  for  angelic 
flight.  The  tail  oratory  in  pantomimic  word  negation 
of  the  full-fledged  convert  with  its  eloquent  exordic 
exhortation,  and  lofty  style  of  peroration,  caused  a 
strong  emotional  revival  of  faith  in  its  beatific  efficacy, 
that  caused  the  germ-regenerated  Kubus  to  flock 
around  his  standard  with  a  strong  devotional  spirit  of 
expectation  in  hopeful  waiting  for  a  like  translation. 
It  was  at  one  of  these  revival  conferences  that  Convert 
discovered  the  novel  effect  of  misplaced  attachment  in 
muscular  volition  that  rendered,  in  a  measure,  the 


M.    8HAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  173 

reasonable  success  of  his  operation  abortive  as  the 
silent  exponent  of  an  intelligible  faith  demonstration; 
but  he  congratulated  himself  in  having  furnished  an 
excellent  working  apology  for  the  illustration  of  the 
exampled  definition  of  faith  in  charity,  virtue,  moral 
ity,  philanthropy,  etc.,  in  accordance  with  the  accepted 
practice  of  civilized  society. 

"In  the  hurry  of  transfer  he  had  reversed  the  tail  so 
that  it  gave  a  side  cast  to  the  prehensile  hold  which 
utterly  failed  in  theoretical  suggestion,  causing  thereby 
the  action  of  volition  to  miscarry  with  a  ridiculous 
exposure  of  intention  by  contrary  effect.  But  this 
strabismic  deviation  from  direct  action  caused  a  won 
dering  increase  of  faith  in  its  efficacy  on  the  part  of  the 
devotees,  who,  with  humorous  judgment,  dictated  by 
human  knowledge,  supposed  it  to  be  a  mysterious  or. 
dinance  that  could  have  been  made  clear  to  the  under 
standing  if  it  had  been  so  ordained.  Neither  did  its 
non-accomplishment  of  direct  purpose  in  the  least  im 
pair  the  confidence  of  its  possessor,  who  seemed  to  be 
satisfied  with  his  full  endowment  without  questioning 
its  truthful  efficacy. 

"  As  the  poor  bereft  Gibbons,  with  repentant  grief, 
followed  his  lost  estate  with  the  fascination  natural 
to  the  vital  importance  of  a  member  that  literally  ex 
pressed  in  embodiment  his  resources  for  happy  con 
tentment,  he  was  made  aware  of  his  nakedness,  and 
sought  to  conceal  it  by  artificial  substitutes,  which,  in 
vague  deviation  from  rational  intention,  naturally  sug 
gested  the  origin  of  civilized  fashions  and  sweat  of  the 
brow  from  labor  in  vain.  As  the  unintellible  talk  ex 
hortations  of  the  despised  Gibbons  orang  discovered 
in  the  incipient  use  of  language  a  sullen  mood  of  dis 
content,  Convert  christened  him,  '  Mood-ee,  the  De 
generated/  and  the  fully  endowed  Kubu,  'San-kee,  or 
the  Regenerated.' 

"In  order  that  you  may  fully  realize  and  appreci 
ate  the  high  generic  order  of  the  orang  tail,  in  contra 
distinction  to  the  ordinary  tails  of  animality  and  the 
ape  and  baboon  species,  as  well  as  the  more  keen 
susceptibility  of  the  female  to  their  influence,  we  will 
relate  the  experience  of  Convert  in  rendering  more 


174  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

efficient  and  exact  adaptation  of  a  bequeathed  entailed 
estate  to  its  recipient  entailee .  You  are  all  curiously 
aware  of  the  extraordinary  caudal  endowment  of 
Bridget  Kan  A. van  and  the  joyous  influence  it  exerts 
in  the  happy  consummation  of  faith  for  the  material 
realization  of  perfect  contentment.  From  the  mother's 
experience  and  predilection,  Pat-ro-nimick,  and  all  the 
other  children,  were  subjected  to  the  Gibbons'  mission 
ary  labors  for  regeneration,  notwithstanding  the 
father's  protest  against  the  "monkey  addendas," 
which  would  prevent  him  from  regaling  himself,  by 
administering  to  them  a  wholesome  stimulus  for  the 
development  of  the  centre  of  gravity  and  an  upright 
walk.  All,  with  the  exception  of  Bridget,  manifested 
the  utmost  indifference  to  their  germ-orang  rudder  in 
vestment,  and  apparently  gave  no  heed  to  its  influ 
ence,  in  question"  of  sufficiency,  for  the  realization  of 
an  abiding  faith  for  full  regeneration. 

f'But  she,  as  the  special  favorite  of  the  patriarch 
and  archess,  had  from  frequent  visits  to  their  gibbang 
become  painfully  aware  of  the  insufficiency  of  her  cau- 
dality  for  saving  grace,  and  in  consequence  fell  into  a 
low  despondent  state,  and  notwithstanding  her  father's 
constant  warning  of  the  fate  that  befel  Lot's  wife,  she 
would  constantly  look  behind,  as  if  in  faith  for  a  hope 
ful  increase  of  her  oranginity.  These  fitful  moods  of 
doubt,  halting  between  hope  and  despair,  continued 
for  the  space  of  two  years  or  more,  and  then  seemed 
inclined  to  assume  a  corresponding  type  to  the  relig 
ious  insanity  that  proves  so  contagious  in  civilized 
communities.  As  she  was  a  general  favorite  with  all, 
without  regard  to  sept  or  nationality,  an  affectionate 
sympathy  was  constantly  on  the  alert  to  find  some 
means  to  divert  her  attention  from  an  end  so  unsatis 
factory  to  her  brooding  anticipations. 

"At  this  time,  when  the  general  interest  was  so 
warmly  enlisted  in  her  behalf,  the  old  patriarch  of  the 
Gibbons,  who  was  well  stricken  in  years,  began  to  feel 
that  the  season  of  his  translation,  or  departure,  was 
approaching,  and  seemed  desirous  of  settling  his  es 
tate,  and  we  could  plainly  discover  his  intention  in 
forecast,  as  Bridget  had  been  his  especial  favorite;  but 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  175 

it  was  a  long  time  before  we  learned  the  full  extent  of 
the  sacrifice  he  premeditated  in  her  behalf.  In  an 
interview  with  him,  when  San-kee,  and  Mood-ee,  his 
followers,  were  enacting  their  roles  of  exhortation,  he 
made  Convert  aware  of  his  knowledge  of  the  process 
by  which  the  translation  of  the  Gibbons  tail  to  the 
Kubu  had  been  effected,  and  our  agency  in  the  trans 
action.  He  then  signified  his  wish  to  bequeath  his 
caudal  appendage  for  the  relief  of  Bridget's  despond 
ency,  and  his  desire  that  Convert  would  take  charge 
of  the  transfer  as  administrative  executor.  Convert, 
although  astonished  at  the  immensity  of  the  sacrifice 
offered  in  mediation  for  her  redemption  from  the  pen 
alty  of  hereditary  sin,  and  the  insufficiency  of  her 
faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the  germ-orang  source  of  regen 
eration,  questioned  the  legitimacy  of  the  transfer,  as 
it  would  tend,  in  translation  from  the  male  to  the 
female,  to  confound  the  emotional  sensations  that  dis 
tinguish  the  sexes:  but,  upon  consultation,  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  comply  with  the  patriarch's  phil- 
orangthropic  proposition,  if  it  would  prove  a  source 
of  relief  to  Bridget. 

"Although  sensibly  affected  with  the  great  love  that 
prompted  the  sacrifice,  and  the  benefit  it  would  confer, 
Bridget,  from  the  delicacy  of  her  unselfish  motives, 
and  freedom  from  the  urgency  of  Mercy's  desire  for 
the  looking-glass,  for  which  she  longed — as  portrayed 
in  Bunyan's  description  of  the  pilgrim's  sojourn  in  the 
mansion  of  the  Delectable  Mountains — refused  the 
proffer  of  his  birthright  source  of  contentment;  from 
the  plea  of  the  patriarch's  necessity  for  its  solace  as 
the  means  of  consolation  for  his  latter  days. 

"In  evidence  of  her  disinterested  determination,  she 
assumed  a  more  joyful  expression,  and  looked  forward 
with  the  hopeful  intention  of  overcoming  the  impres 
sion  of  despondency,  that  had  been  imparted  from  a 
lack  of  faith  in  the  sufficiency  of  her  regenerated  caud- 
ality  for  the  effectual  assurance  of  redeeming  grace. 
But  the  patriarch,  with  an  evident  appreciation  of  her 
reverential  forbearance,  had  set  his  heart  upon  making 
the  sacrifice  for  her  redemption;  and  Convert,  as  the 
medium  of  interpretation,  finally  persuaded  her  that  a 


176  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

refusal  to  accept  the  means  of  atonement  as  a  free 
will  offering,  would  not  only  show  a  spirit  of  ingrati 
tude  and  a  lack  of  faith  in  its  available  sufficiency, 
but  would  in  fact  be  sinning  away  the  day  of 
grace  with  a  recklessness  as  determined  in  obstinacy 
as  the  recreant  Gibbons,  who  now,  as  a  follower,  is 
obliged  to  render  devotional  faith-service  to  his  own 
lost  means  of  salvation. 

"Notwithstanding  her  wo-man's  inheritance  of  van 
ity  urged  its  acceptance,  she  still  questioned  from  the 
'valley  of  curious  inquiry/  whether  the  patriarch, 
would,  with  like  devotion,  become  a  follower  of  his 
departed  glory,  self-deposed  in  her  favor?  We  as 
sured  her  that  as  its  abdication,  and  transfer  from  its 
legitimate  throne  of  grace,  was  a  voluntary  act  for  the 
redemption  of  her  posterity,  he  would  be  likely  to  re 
tain  the  full  endowment  of  faith  established  by  the  im 
press  of  its  past  service,  and  thereby,  would  be  no  loser 
from  the  evidence  imparted,  in  co-affinity,  from  ante 
rior  service  rendered. 

"With  this  rendering  of  her  liability  to  incur  in 
train  its  former  retainer,  she  submitted  to  the  surgical 
ordeal  of  translation,  and  with  the  patriarchal  entailor, 
was^subjected  to  the  anaesthetic  influence  of  bang.  The 
transfer  was  eminently  successful,  as  we  profited  by 
our  former  experience,  and  were  enabled  to  secure  in 
adaptation  a  perfect  correspondence  of  muscular  and 
nervous  union,  as  well  as  a  sufficient  supply  of  arterial 
sustenance,  with  necessary  adjuncts  for  venous  re- 
elaboration.  When  a  healthy  connection  was  accom 
plished,  a  graduated  series  of  germ-orang  gymnastics 
was  inaugurated  for  muscular  development,  and  post- 
transmission  of  arterial  and  nervous  power.  As  these 
collateral  sources  became  currently  established,  she 
began  to  feel  the  addendum  responsibility  entailed 
from  its  former  possessor,  and  in  sequence  the  spirit  of 
silent  contentment  was  imparted  in  surplant  of  des 
pondency.  In  excess  of  the  active  duties  evolved  from 
the  retained  wisdom  of  the  tailacy,  she  imparted  to  it 
many  accomplishments  derived  from  the  knowledge  of 
sinful  acquirements  in  theoretical  practice,  although 
tempered  with  an  affectionate  caudality  remote  from 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATKA.  177 

the  empirical  preaching,  pleading,  and  doctoring  spe 
cialties  of  the  preacher,  lawyer,  and  doctor,  and 
their  self-immolating  devotees  from  the  transition  de- 
visements  of  the  brain.  But  the  effect  of  the  loss 
upoa  the  poor  patriarch  devisor,  was  indeed  sad,  for 
it  appeared  to  act  in  revulsion  upon  the  organs  of 
speech  by  developing  his  presbyter  zetzoon  cry  into 
languaged  exhortation  ;  but  unlike  Esau,  who  sold  his 
birthright  for  the  gratification  of  taste,  the  burthen  of 
his  lamentation  was  for  the  insufficiency  of  his  mate 
rial  resources  for  the  contentful  supply  of  mother 
Eve's  inheritors,  with  the  redeeming  consolations  of  a 
graceful  natural  appendage  to  faith.  With  this  tribute 
to  his  philorangthropic  benevolence,  displayed  in  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  stay  of  discontent,  the  source  of  the 
curse  of  multiplication  with  humanity,  we  will  now 
proceed  to  give  in  outline  the  languaged  disposition  of 
tails  for  instinctive  expression,  and  in  distinction  from 
Adam  and  Eve's  endowment  previous  to  their  fall  will 
describe  the  orders  and  species  in  adaptation  to  grade 
requirements.  Of  the  fledged  creation,  or  '  fowls  of 
the  air,'  we  shall  only  speak  in  the  way  of  comparison 
for  demonstrating  the  necessity  of  a  tail  for  the  direc 
tion  and  parachute  support  of  a  body  in  flight. 

"  The  primary  division  of  tails,  in  adaptation  to  crea 
tive  indications,  are  first  the  aerial,  or  those  full 
fledged  for  flight  in  space.  The  second,  or  semi- 
aerial,  are  those  adapted  to  tree  flight  from  the 
rudimentary  stage  of  evolvement  in  presage  of  angelic 
fledgment,  and  are  derived  from  and  dependent  upon 
the  Orang  species,  and  may  be  styled  amphi-arbo- 
terrestrial  from  the  sinful  defection  which  in  degrala- 
tion  produced  mankind  and  held  the  progenitorial 
stock  in  statu  quo  as  a  memento  of  cause  and  effect.  If 
we  were  disposed  to  theorize  from  the  precedental  au 
thority  of  Bible  traditions,  the  conversation  between 
Eve  and  the  serpent,  and  his  tail  adaptation  to  tree 
flight,  might  warrant  the  belief  of  his  inimical  relation 
ship  to  the  species,  but,  as  in  our  analytical  statements 
we  wish  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  indications  of  truth, 
we  will  allow  your  unbiased  judgments  to  dispose  of 
8* 


178  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

the  question  of  alliance  upon  the  strength  of  the  evi 
dence  adduced. 

"The  third  generic  order  of  specie  tail  distinctions  be 
longs  to  the  lower  transitions  in  degradation  of  the 
animal  castes  from  the  status  of  mankind,  under  the 
control  of  instinct  abridged  from  the  deductive  re 
sources  of  knowledge  subject  to  correction  from  expe 
rience.  The  highest  reach  of  attainment,  by  this  or 
der,  is  sagacity  for  support  and  self-protection,  and  we' 
distinguish  them  in  classification  as  pendu-queues. 

''But  we  recognize  a  subdivision  which  we  character 
istically  distinguish  as  stub-tails;  the  grades  of  this 
genus  are  diversified  as  with  that  of  the  hog,  combin 
ing  in  variation  the  stub-twist  and  corkscrew,  with 
curves  more  or  less  acute.  All  of  these  variations  ex 
press  tailiognomic  characteristics  as  distirct  in  evi 
dence  of  instinctive  sagacity  as  the  physiognomic  man 
ifest  those  of  mankind,  although  limited  in  capacity 
to  the  emotions  of  anger,  pleasure  and  pain. 

"As  the  Chinese  traditional  record  is  the  oldest,  and 
the  others  agree  with  it  in  describing  a  transition 
stage  that  reduced  mankind's  progenitors  to  a  terres 
trial  condition,  and  an  upright  walk  and  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  instead  of  enjoying  the  privilege  of  obtain 
ing  a  free  livelihood  from  the  fruits  of  trees,  which 
condition  is  distinctly  asserted  in  the  Bible  descrip 
tion,  we  can  safely  infer  that  the  keramic  translation 
of  the  sacred  tablets  of  the  god  Con-Fuse-Us  by  Hy- 
Long-Fel-Loo  is  substantially  correct.  Especially  as 
we  know  that  they  still  wear  the  memorial  badge  of 
the  functional  transition  of  the  tail  to  the  brain  as  the 
seat  of  knowledge,  and  that  its  impressions  hold  para 
mount  sway  over  it  at  the  present  day.  However,  as 
with  the  Jewish  rite  of  circumcision,  which  evidently 
commemorates  the  supposed  method  adopted  by  the 
Lord  God  of  Hosts  for  the  reduction  of  the  orangs  to 
a  state  of  servile  obedience  in  penalty  for  the  trans 
gression  of  his  commands,  its  special  observance  has 
become  a  fashionable  rite  of  national  distinction  in 
stead  of  a  reverential  token  of  penitential  sorrow  for 
the  loss  of  the  unfledged  index  to  an  angelic  flight  of 
contentment.  As  you  have  observed,  the  orangs  are 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        179 

still  firm  in  adhering  to  their  original  simplicity  of 
diet  and  habits  of  honest  contentment,  unprejudiced 
by  the  example  of  our  predecessors,  and  that  their 
Kubu  converts  prefer  their  customs  to  those  of  their 
own  race.  Like  the  apes,  whose  stub-tails  have  be 
come  useless  for  expression,  as  well  as  for  convenience, 
and  an  ornamental  source  of  redeeming  grace,  from 
retrogression  in  the  process  of  transition,  the  children 
of  Eve  are  more  ready  to  imitate  the  orang  example 
than  that  of  their  own  parents.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
Brazilian  ape's  keen  perception  of  the  ridiculous  in  the 
memorial  adaptation  of  an  artificial  tail  to  the  head  of 
the  Chinese,  I  will  relate  an  instance  of  an  interview 
that  happened  during  my  son's  last  visit  to  South 
America. 

'•While  visiting  the  guano  islands  he  rescued  a  sick 
Chinese  boy  from  the  brutality  of  the  superintendent, 
who  had  dragged  the  unfortunate  shadow  to  a  hollow 
a  little  distance  from  the  'shoots'  of  canvas  used  in 
loading  vessels,  and  with  the  most  ferocious  zeal  was 
stamping  out  the  spark  of  vitality  that  still  entitled 
the  sufferer  to  human  sympathy.  However  gentle  our 
coolie  dispositions  may  appear  when  subject  to  our 
native  taskmasters,  their  Buddhist  sympathy  for  suf 
fering  is  aroused  to  an  unselfish  pitch  of  desperation, 
whenever  the  slightest  approach  to  cruelty  is  exercised 
in  their  presence,  and  they  never  calculate  the  odds 
against  them  in  their  attempts  to  offset  the  rescue  of 
the  victims.  Sag-een  (benevolent  wisdom),  when  he 
saw  the  brutal  act  from  a  distance,  never  stopped  to 
consider  the  risk  he  would  incur  in  attempting  to  save 
the  life  of  the  boy  in  opposing  his  fragile  form  against 
the  towering  mass  of  bone  and  flesh  that  was  dragging 
the  helpless  victim  to  a  secure  place  for  the  gratifica 
tion  of  effecting  a  sacrifice  to  brutal  or  devilish  pas 
sions  unobserved. 

"  Swift  of  foot  and  heedful  of  the  necessity  of  sud 
den  surprise  to  effect  his  purpose,  he  was  enabled, 
from  the  dew  dusk  of  the  morning  and  the  demon 
engrossment  of  the  man-fiend,  to  prostrate  him  with 
Hindu  tricks  of  sleight  and  to  render  him  incapable  of 
moving  for  self-defense  or  rescue  of  his  victim,  as  it 


180  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

would  require  months  for  him  to  recover  the  free  use 
of  his  arms  and  legs  from  the  paralysis  inflicted  by  the 
quick  touches  of  Sag-een's  walking  wand. 

"To  wipe  and  bathe  the  boy's  face,  and  give  him 
such  relief  as  the  Hindu  doctor's  never-absent  remedial 
case  was  able  to  afford,  occupied  a  few  minutes,  but 
during  that  short  period  the  Polander  made  ineffec 
tual  efforts  to  rise,  giving  vent  the  while  to  revengeful 
threats;  but  finding  himself  completely  disabled,  and 
caught  in  his  own  hollow  trap,  which  would  expose 
him  to  the  concentrated  heat  of  the  rising  sun,  he  be 
gan  to  supplicate  with  all  the  sneaking  array  of  cow 
ardly  subterfuges  that  are  held  in  reserve  by  cruelty 
and  meanness  for  the  repentant  pleadings  that  follow 
detection.  Sag  een,  although  mindful  of  all  that  the 
prostrate  giant  said,  devoted  his  silent  attention  to  the 
relief  of  his  ward,  and  when  he  was  sufficiently  restored 
to  bear  removal,  took  him  astride  of  his  hip  and  bore 
him  across  the  island  to  the  boat  of  the  ship  on  board 
of  which  he  was  a  passenger  in  company  with  his 
adopted  brother,  the  son  of  Mr.  Leslie.  After  he  had 
bestowed  all  the  personal  care  required  by  his  charge, 
related  to  Mr.  Leslie  and  the  captain  the  circumstances 
attending  the  rescue.  Both  were  warm  in  his  praise  for 
the  kindly  sympathy  that  prompted  and  the  boldness 
that  enabled  him  to  save  the  life  of  the  boy,  and  the 
captain  volunteered  to  inform  the  authorities  of  the 
particulars  relating  to  the  transaction.  The  result  of 
the  captain's  representation  of  the  facts  was  the  re 
moval  of  the  superintendent  from  his  place  of  exposure 
and  official  position,  and  the  boy  was  left  in  the  charge 
of  Sag-een  for  disposal.  In  negative  extenuation,  the 
Polander's  brutality  was  in  apt  illustration  of  the 
axiom  that  like  begets  like;  for  after  the  subjugation 
and  partition  of  Poland  by  Russia,  Prussia  and  Aus 
tria,  its  still  struggling  patriots  were  treated,  in  many 
instances,  with  a  cruelty  that  in  savage  severity  would 
discount  his  premeditated  act  of  torture,  which  had 
been  branded  into  his  nature  by  the  oft-rehearsed  acts 
of  oppression  and  suffering  that  had  been  endured  by 
his  people.  The  gratitude  of  the  Chinese  boy  was 
manifested  by  a  strong  attachment  to  his  savior,  who, 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  181 

although  averse  to  the  assistance  of  a  servant,  could 
uot  withstand  his  pleadings  to  accompany  him  in  that 
capacity,  and  always  proved  faithful  to  his  expressions 
of  affection,  for  he  and  his  children  are  among  our 
best  exemplars  of  the  power  of  kindly  influence. 

"With  this  suggestive  preamble,  we  will  now  relate 
Sam  Jeh's,  Sag-een's  ward's  interview  with  the  Bra 
zilian  apes,  which  I  will  give  in  Mr.  Leslie's  language: 

"  '  We  had  encamped  one  night  about  midway  be 
tween  Cratto  and  Borba  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river 
Madeira.  On  the  following  morning  we  were  sur 
prised  by  the  alarmed  out-cries  of  Sam  Yeh,  who  had 
been  to  the  river  to  fill  our  tenagua  with  water.  We 
had  seized  our  guns  and  gained  the  tree-covered  sum 
mit  of  the  river's  bank,  when  he  appeared  from  out 
the  copse  below,  struggling  with  a  band  of  apes  for 
the  retention  of  his  head-tail  memorial,  the  end  of 
which  was  already  unbraided  and  in  shreds,  while  his 
assailants  were  tugging  with  might  and  main  at  the 
body  of  his  queue — which  he  had  grasped  with  his 
hands — and  with  jabbering  excitement  were  endeavor 
ing  to  draw  him  upward  to  the  limbs  of  the  trees  for  a 
nearer  inspection  of  the  lusus  naturae,  which  had 
transgressed  the  rule  of  their  precedental  knowledge 
and  experience  in  its  outre  attachment.  The  discharge 
of  our  guns  caused  them  to  desist  from  their  rough 
scientific  investigations;  but  still  the  spirit  of  curious 
inquiry  was  only  checked  to  learn  the  effect  produced 
by  the  concussive  noise,  and  when  they  saw  that  no  in 
jury  had  been  caused,  they  followed  us  to  our  camp 
with  a  bold  impudence,  in  strong  contrast  with  the 
mild  spirit  natural  to  the  Gibbons  orang. 

"  'From  their  actions  we  judged  that  they  looked  up 
on  Sam  Yeh's  tail  as  a  libel  upon  their  own,  for  after 
we  had  repaired  and  coiled  it  so  that  it  was  concealed 
beneath  his  hat,  they  frequently  charged  upon  him 
from  their  tree  coverts  with  manifest  tokens  of  deri 
sion.  But  when  we  were  beyond  the  confines  of  the 
ape  country,  he,  with  a  feeling  of  relief,  expressed  his 
contempt  for  their  ridicule  in  the  following  terms; 
"  Him  no  shabe,  poco  tiempo,  one,  quartro,  trace,  dos, 
ciento,  one,  two,  hundry  year,  no  hab  tail,  all  same 


182  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

like  man.  No  muchee  tail  now,  anyhow!"  But  in  our 
course  north  we  passed  through  the  black  ape  country, 
which  caused  Sam  to  become  more  cautious  and  re 
spectful  in  speech.  Questioning  the  cause  of  his  si 
lence,  he  replied  in  a  cautious  whisper — "Him  no 
speakee,  but  know  all  same!  When  he  talkee  much, 
then  he  no  think,  and  make  work  like  coolie  cochin  " 
"When  we  had  overcome  his  disposition  to  talk  strong 
Chinese  and  pigeon  English, we  gathered  by  scraps  some 
of  his  childish  impressions.  From  these'  it  appeared 
that  he  was  a  native  of  Tai-Ping,  a  mountain  province 
of  the  lower  range  of  the  "Himalaya-Chong,"  whose  in 
habitants  lived  in  patriarchal  independence,  although 
claimed  by  both  Chinese  and  Burmese  as  subjects. 

•'  '  He  had  been  taken  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and 
served  in  Canton  and  Hong  Kong  as  a  negotiable 
property  servant,  and  as  such  had  been  transferred  to 
the  captain  of  a  ship,  and  by  him,  on  his  arrival  in 
Callao,  to  the  Polish  superintendent.  Like  the  Bor- 
nese  and  Hindoos,  his  people  used  the  name  of  Orang 
as  a  title  of  nobility  of  the  most  ancient  order  and 
highest  distinction.  We  soon  learned,  from  the  im 
pression  of  hereditary  habit,  that  he  had  derived  his 
source  from  a  people  who  were  accustomed  to  use 
thought  as  a  motive  of  action  for  the  productive  sup 
ply  of  the  means  of  contentment,  which  was  esteemed 
by  them  the  luxury  of  life.  Notwithstanding  the  ex 
treme  youth  of  Sam  Yeh,  when  deprived  of  the  exam- 
pled  advantages  of  this  stoic  but  sure  means  for  the 
attainment  of  comparative  happiness,  he  had  retained 
the  impression  through  all  the  vicissitudes  to  which  he 
had  been  subjected,  and  although  reticent  in  grateful 
word  expressions,  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree,  a 
keen  perception  of  all  the  kindly  influences  that  reached 
him,  and  was  always  in  search  of  means  for  joyful  re 
ciprocation.' 

' '  With  this  tribute  to  the  gratefully-appreciative  in 
telligence  of  Sam  Yeh,  we  will  now  consider  for  your 
thought  verification  the  sub-divisions  of  tail  expres 
sion  common  to  instinct. 

"  The  Pendu-Queue  tail,  although  in  material  expres 
sion  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  lower  orders  of  an- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  183 

imality  of  quadrupedal  investment  is  by  no  means  a 
prerogative  of  their  caste,  as  the  instincts  of  humanity 
in  degradation  from  faith  in  the  redeeming  grace  of 
the  Orang  cauclality  give  expression  to  an  inheritance 
infinitely  more  debasing  in  downward  tendency.  The 
possession  of  this  tail  is  indicated  in  human  progres 
sion  by  the  curse  of  knowledge  that  is  proof  to  the  re 
generating  influence  of  experience. 

"Eve,  by  the  self-indulgence  of  curious  taste,  for 
the  instinctive  gratification  of  sense,  substituted  the 
pendu-queue  for  the  orang  caudal  of  contentment  in 
nucleus  evolvement  for  angelic  flight;  and  by  inau 
gurating  fashion,  for  the  investment  of  her  shame,  sub 
jected  her  posterity  to  the  whimsies  of  artificial  tail 
faith,  which  has  proved  the  insufficiency  of  the  loom 
accelerated  by  steam  power  to  effect  the  object  of  her 
ambition  that  prompted  her  primitive  millinery  labors. 
The  keen  sense  of  her  degradation  was  manifested  in 
her  corrective  stimulation  of  the  bereaved  parts  of 
Cain  for  an  upright  walk,  and  from  this  special  address 
to  the  unwitting  cause  she  provoked  the  inauguration 
of  sectarian  faith  in  sacrifice  for  the  propitiation  of  the 
sins  of  the  flesh.  The  Serpent  who  had  preached  to 
Eve  the  first  sermon  of  defiance  against  the  manifest 
evidences  of  the  source  of  contentment,  to  which  she 
had  yielded  in  deference  to  the  wisdom  which  she  sup 
posed  to  be  inherent  with  the  length  of  his  caudal  en 
dowment,  found  in  Cain  a  willing  agent  for  the  propa 
gation  of  sectarian  discord.  As  Eve,  in  partaking  of 
the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life  offered  her  by  the  Serpent, 
had  assumed  the  role  of  a  goddess,  and  the  attributes 
of  the  giver,  with  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  she 
probably  looked  with  aversion  upon  Cain  as  the  first 
cause  of  her  shame,  and  from  familiarity  with  sin  fa 
vored  the  sacrifice  of  Abel,  which  proved  an  exciting 
incentive  not  only  to  partisan  worship  and  war,  but  to 
the  innumerable  sources  of  domestic  infelicity  that  hold 
ruling  sway  at  the  present  day. 

"  The  Curse  of  Knowledge  that  would  not  profit  by  ex 
perience  was  plainly  indicated  by  Eve's  example  of 
preference  shown  to  her  children  in  making  the  sacri 
fice  of  one  appear  more  acceptable  than  the  other's. 


184  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

It  appears  that  in  effect  she,  in  '  virtue'  of  the  Ser 
pent's  prophetic  sermon,  had  assumed  the  role  of  a 
corrective  goddess  for  meting  out  to  her  children  the 
judgment  awards  of  partial  passion,  which,  in  fount, 
was  the  source  of  sectarian  discord;  that,  in  the  in 
creasing  ratio  of  multiplication  from  the  Serpent  text, 
has  deluged  the  world  in  blood  and  propagated  with 
kindred  increase  for  hell's  vengeful  harvest  the  minis 
tering  agents  of  her  seducer.  In  being  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  the  artificial  ordinances  of  invention 
to  eke  substitutes  for  memorial  reverence  in  symbolic 
tokens  of  devotion  to  the  original  centre  of  gravity, 
she  increased  the  tendency  to  degradation  from  the 
angelic  primal  seat  of  departure.  So  that  mankind  at 
the  present  day,  by  faith  in  works  for  the  heavenly 
gratification  of  luxurious  indulgence,  have  been  en 
abled  by  assimilation,  in  reverse  from  the  upward  ten 
dency  of  the  orang  tail,  to  assume  by  imitation  in 
habit  all  the  pendu-queue  variations  of  expression  com 
mon  to  the  lower  orders  of  animality.  This  demo 
cratic  disposition  to  avoid  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  experience  is  shown  so  distinctly  by  the  gour 
mand,  that  the  lustful  greed  of  imitative  stupidity  is 
alone  sufficient  to  screen  the  degrading  effects.  Re 
flective  observation  requires  no  prompting  to  trace 
the  stunted  growths  and  paralytic  movements  of  the 
earth's  civilized  generations  to  the  use  of  tobacco  and 
spirits  and  excessive  over-indulgence  in  highly-stimu 
lating  food,  which  provokes  gourmandizing  propensi 
ties. 

"It  is  patent  to  the  experienced  knowledge  of  all, 
that  the  calcarious  deposits  of  the  gouty  gourmands, 
which  affect  the  joints  of  their  hands  and  feet,  caus 
ing  enlargement  and  immobility,  are  in  fact  the  initial 
stage  of  hoof  formation,  and  their  swag  bellies  and 
jowled  cheeks  the  forerunner  of  quadrupedal  progres 
sion.  As  this  downward  tendency  is  hereditary  in 
effect  and  disposition,  it  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
ancient  belief  in  transmigration  of  the  vital  soil  im 
pressions  into  kindred  representative  species  after 
death.  For,  in  degeneration,  we  should  not  have  to 
search  long  or  far  to  find  a  human  representative  of 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  185 

the  elephant,  as  the  pendulous  nose  and  toothless 
tendency  of  the  gourmand,  with  other  adjunctive  simi 
larity,  proclaim  a  like  conformation.  Still,  in  defer 
ence  to  our  elephant's  comparatively  temperate  habits, 
we  should  be  loth  to  suppose  that  they  ever  derived 
their  source  of  conformation  from  the  proboscidial  and 
pachydermal  features  of  the  like  degenerate  scions  of 
humanity  who  are  known  to  our  present  civilization  as 
drunkards.  Yet  we  have  the  Bible  record  of  Nebu 
chadnezzar,  who  was  reduced  by  intemperate  indul 
gence  to  a  grazing  condition,  and  his  sou,  Belshazzar, 
from  hereditary  impression,  after  a  prolonged  de 
bauch  while  suffering  from  delirium  tremens — in  defi 
ance  of  his  father's  warning  example — saw  a  hand 
writing  upon  the  wall  in  prophecy  of  a  fate  that  his 
habits  rendered  certain. 

"  Then  we  have  the  example  of  the  maniac  drunk 
ard,  who  was  dispossessed  of  his  legion  of  spirits  by 
Christ,  which,  in  appropriate  transfer,  caused  a  herd  of 
two  thousand  swine  to  commit  suicide  from  the  chok 
ing  effects  of  water. 

"  The  Bible,  in  ironical  and  hyperbolic  sarcasm  of 
kke  character,  impresses  upon  its  own  votaries  the 
source  of  their  own  faith  and  its  tendency  from  ignor 
ing  experience  to  the  same  end. 

"  The  Dutch,  from  the  earliest  records  of  their  peo 
ple  as  Batavians,  were  known  to  be  especially  addicted 
to  the  gratification  of  appetite  with  coarse  food,  and 
as  it  tended  to  fish,  their  bodies  in  bulk  were  inclined 
to  whalish  dimensions,  although  the  prominent  parts 
were  differently  disposed. 

"  It  is  said  that  Mahomet,  when  seeking  for  a  special 
style  of  architecture  with  which  to  distinguish  his  re 
ligious  edifices,  encountered  in  Alexandria  the  crew 
complement  of  a  Dutch  vessel  that  had  been  taken  by 
his  galleys.  Their  short,  ponderous  forms,  with  dome 
like  tendency  behind,  amused  his  curiosity  to  "inquire, 
'  From  what  race  and  place  do  these  infidel  slaves 
come?'  On  being  answered  that  they  were  'mynheers/ 
that  belonged  to  some  country  far  north,  his  face  gave 
birth  to  an  expressive  smile  of  satisfaction,  and  after 
a  few  moments'  conversation  with  his  architect,  he  re- 


186  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

tired  to  a  house  that  overlooked  the  market-place,  and 
at  a  given  signal  the  fattest  was  made  to  stand  upon 
his  head  and  feet  with  his  dome  erect  ;  upon  this  was 
placed  an  impromptu  spire.  It  is  said  that  the  effect 
of  this  novel  model,  which  originated  the  Byzantine 
style  of  architecture,  threw  Mahomet  into  a  paroxysm 
of  laughter  which  he  was  unable  to  control.  When 
the  architect  approached,  after  the  model  had  been 
allowed  to  assume  his  upright  position,  Mahomet  ex 
claimed,  '  Allah  be  praised  that  he  has  revealed  his  de 
sign  for  a  temple  of  worship  in  a  manner  so  well 
adapted  for  the  devotional  comprehension  of  his  chosen 
people!'  After  the  architect  had  perfected  his  plans, 
and  built  the  model  mosque  of  Abou  Mahommed  in 
the  Delta  grove  of  Al  Berkit,  he  Mahometized  its  cu 
pola  and  spire  with  the  name  of  Mynheer-ret*  (Dutch, 
dome-tail),  which  has  in  the  usual  way  of  word  usage 
degenerated  into  Minaret,  and  the  style  into  the 
pointed  romanesque  of  Christian  adoption,  with  vane 
attachments  for  wind  indications.  In  addition  to  these 
illustrative  citations  showing  the  tendency  of  mankind 
to  pendu-queue  faith  in  the  regenerative  immortality 
of  the  stomach  natural  to  instinct,  we  might  add  the 
reverence  paid  by  the  pugilistic  herd  to  parts  below 
the  belt,  and  the  sacrilegious  stigma  imparted  from  a 
kick  directed  against  the  ancient  birth-place  of  the 
tail.  But  I  see  that  your  own  thoughts  are  now  capa 
ble  of  extending  the  investigation  with  sufficient  de 
ductive  accuracy  for  the  confirmation  of  your  faith  in 
the  necessity  of  tail  regeneration  for  angelic  flight; 
and  that  its  Orang  endowment  was  the  happy  source 
of  contentment  to  our  first  parents  before  they  sacri 
ficed  its  inherent  privileges  in  evolvement  for  the  grat 
ification  of  lustful  desire. 

"  As  knowledge,  with  its  test  power  of  experience 
and  free-will  attributes  for  the  exercise  of  judgment 
in  detecting  right  from  wrong,  was  bestowed  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  the  unbiased  source  of  contentment  the 
tail  afforded,  you  will  discover  the  necessity  that  de 
volves  upon  each  individual  for  its  exercise  in  thought- 

*  "Ret"  signifies  tail  in  Chaldaic. 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA. 


187 


ful  comparison,  that  the  exampled  deductions  may 
offer  a  public  demonstration  of  sincerity  ;  otherwise 
the  individual  components  of  the  world's  population 
will  become  servile  contributors  to  the  sectarian  lead 
ers  of  herds,  who  discourse  as  mountebanks  upon  the 
wastes  and  burdens  of  society,'  while  their  example, 
in  sarcasm,  denounces  their  hearers  as  blind  dupes  to 
their  own  thoughtless  stupidity. 

"lou  have  already  acknowledged,  witn  just  appre 
ciation,  the  wisdom  of  the  method  we  have  adopted 
for  the  education  of  our  children,  which  holds  parents 
responsible  for  ample  qualifications  and  willing  dispo 
sitions  to  take  charge  of  their  family's  instruction  in 
all  the  departments  necessary  for  the  happy  develop 
ment  of  their  faculties  for  a  contentful  life. 

"  This  course  we  have  adopted  as  a  pastime,  so  that 
we  have  home  proof  of  its  efficacy  as  an  ever-mcreas- 
ino- source  of  happiness,  and  in  perpetuity,  as  an  ex 
ampled  basis  for  the  evolvement  of  worth  sufficient  tor 
the  realization  of  immortality.  Instead  of  Burns 
wishful  proverb,  '  that  we  might  see  ourselves  as  others 
see  us  '  which  has  been  adopted  by  the  world  as  the 
acme  of  wisdom  in  lead  for  self-correction,  we  Irom 
exampled  thought,  in  reciprocation,  desire  that  others 
may  see  us  as  we  see  ourselves;  which  maxim,  if  gen 
erally  adopted,  would  render  confidential  union 
stronger  by  self-legislation  in  lieu  of  public;  while 
the  occupation  it  would  afford  for  thought  in  devise- 
ment  of  means  for  the  exampled  welfare  of  others, 
would  abate  the  desire  for  gossiping  association  under 
the  various  styles  assumed  for  congregational  attrac 
tion,  which  of  themselves  declare  their  absurd  incon 
sistency  from  source  of  derivation;  but  mark  the  ten 
dency  to  cycle  revolution  in  habits  and  customs.  It 
will  be  quite  sufficient  for  proof  demonstration  to  re 
fer  you  to  the  revival  of  Druidical,  Knight  Templar, 
and  kindred  rite  subterfuges  of  barbarism  for  pendu- 
queue  herd  organizations.  But  the  most  significant 
in  germ-manic  tendency  is  the  present  rage  for  the  es 
tablishment  of  Ked-men's  lodges,  archery  and  rifle 
teams,  after  having  used  the  latter  for  the  extinction 
of  the  original  representatives  of  the  former. 


188  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  This  is  the  style  of  'Reformation'  that  has  been  in 
vogue  since  Cain  introduced  his  sectarian  ideas  for  the 
permanent  correction  of  his  brother  Abel's.  The  free 
and  United  States  of  America  will  undoubtedly  afford  an 
apt  example  to  later  emulators  of  the  republican  'sys 
tem',  a  way  of  uniting  schismatic  discord,  for  prototype 
re-enactment.  The  W-b — n  and  S —  R —  examples  of 
our  New  England  experience  in  the  art  of  acquiring 
popular  knowledge  and  Christian  unity  are  certain  to  be 
'progressively'  reproductive  in  kind;  of  which  we  had 
ocular  and  mental  demonstration,  in  a  sad  degree, 
when  we  revisited  the  States  for  comparison,  after  an 
absence  of  thirty  years. 

"Notwithstanding  the  latter,  had  been  subject  to  a 
'wake-field'  revival  in  the  routine  course  of  quid  pro 
quo  consideration,  the  pendu-queue  propensity  for 
united- division  was  painfully  denoted  by  additional 
mynheer-rets,  in  adaptation  to  sectarian  styles  of  non 
descript  architecture,  and  the  towns-people  were  even 
more  caudially  disunited  than  we  had  reason  to  expect; 
for  we  found  the  pastorate-shepherds  as  vigorously  de 
nunciative  of  opposing  ordinances  as  their  preaching 
Serpent  prototype  of  the  garden  of  Eden.  Well  aware 
that  you  are  practically  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
commencing  where  the  tail  left  off,  for  making  experi 
ence  the  profitable  test  of  knowledge  for  the  assur 
ance  of  happy  contentment,  we  will  now  leave  you  to 
the  guardian  care  of  your  own  reflective  thoughts, 
with  the  suggestive  relative  deductions  afforded  by  the 
experience  of  Mood-ee  the  degenerated,  Sank-ee  the 
regenerated,  the  de-tailed  patriarch  of  benevolence, 
and  the  sur-tailed  Bridget;  who  is  now  in  the  happy 
enjoyment  of  Adam  and  Eve's  contentment  before  the 
latter  listened  to  the  Serpent's  fatal  sermon  which  con 
demned  her  posterity  to  have  recourse  to  faith  in  arti 
ficial  tail  ordinances  for  redeeming  grace. 

"  The  scornful  repudiation  of  an  entailed  faith  in 
the  contentful  caudality  of  Adam  and  Eve  by  civi 
lized  communities  before  it  was  sacrificed  for  the  in 
ordinate  gratification  of  lustful  desire,  offers,  as  we 
have  shown,  the  strongest  confirmation  of  the  cause 
that  led  them  to  conceal  the  shame  of  their  nakedness 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  189 

'  amongst  the  trees'  of  Eden.  For  at  the  present  day 
we  know  that  church  tribunals  and  other  secret  socie 
ties  use  the  same  means  in  the  multiplied  ratio  of  in 
vention  as  individuals  for  the  concealment  of  shame 
ful  truths  by  subterfuge,  which  presents  the  Druidi- 
cal  mistletoe  mystery  to  hide  from  trustful  dupes  the 
real  motives  in  use  for  deception. 

"The  servile  laborer  who  has  ever  been  striving 
for  phantom  freedom  sacrifices  his  power  to  control 
his  own  destiny  by  ignoring  the  exampled  means  by 
which  alone  it  can  be  obtained,  and  becomes  a  pageant 
tail  to  the  leaders  of  congregations  and  processions, 
and  in  sequence  pendu-queue  for  his  own  shame  and 
the  misery  of  his  posterity.  This  slavery  to  the  wor 
shipful  divinities  who  hold  in  control  the  gold  and 
silver  currencies  of  life  will  continue  to  increase  until 
the  laborer  is  able  from  self-legislation  to  profit  by  ex 
perience  in  abjuring  a  desire  for  '  luxurious'  self-in 
dulgence  which,  in  depriving  him  of  self-command, 
renders  him  an  abject  tool  for  the  arbitrary  sway  of 
moneyed  power.  You  have  participated  in  the  happy 
source  of  contentment  we  have  derived  from  develop 
ing  each  individual  within  the  circle  of  our  exampled 
influence  into  a  self-elevator  with  emulative  desire  of 
extending  the  realizations  of  his  happy  experience  to 
others. 

"  In  commencing  where  the  tail  source  of  content 
ment  was  substituted  by  knowledge  derived  from  the 
brain,  promoted  by  an  upright  position  to  a  directing 
ascendency  above  the  primal  seat  of  unity,  we  have 
made  experience  practically  available  for  the  avoidance 
of  the  beguiling  influence  of  Serpent-preaching  and 
the  sectarian  results  inaugurated  by  the  children  of 
Eve  which  have  proved  in  multiplication  the  hellish 
incentives  to  individual  animosity  and  the  provoking 
cause  of  holy  wars,  which  have  deluged  the  world 
with  the  blood  of  dissension.  We  will  now  commend 
you  to  the  kind  direction  of  our  guardian  protectors, 
who  in  self-revelation  style  themselves  Manatitlans, 
and  claim  with  us  the  soil-impression  of  mortality,  but 
freedom  from  the  taint  of  sectarian  dissension.  A.8 
you  have  already  felt  their  influence,  which  inclines 


190  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

you  to  thought  devisement  for  self-legislation  under 
the  rule  of  trustful  affection,  you  cannot  doubt  the 
wisdom  of  thtir  direction." 


JOURNALISTIC. 

After  Dr.  Olu's  chata  I  was  joined  in  my  evening 
walk  by  a  venerable  Arab,  who  had  been  born  in  the 
faith  of  Islam,  to  which  he  "resigned"  himself  when 
arrived  at  the  years  of  maturity,  and  adopted  the 
rites  and  ceremonies,  without  thought,  questioning  the 
truth  of  its  inspired  source.  In  relating  his  experi 
ence,  he  said: 

"  When  I  heard  of  the  peaceful  colony  of  Saar 
Soong,  sixty  years  ago,  I  at  once  determined  to  avail 
myself  of  my  relative  correspondent's  invitation  to 
visit  him  and  test  the  value  of  the  affectionate  life  he 
described.  For  it  appeared  so  natural  to  my  under 
standing  and  free  from  our  Arabian  delusive  traits  of 
imaginary  investment,  that  I  hoped  it  might  satisfy  the 
void  that  a  religion  of  faith  in  the  belief  that  the  Su 
preme  Creator  ever  mediated  with  his  creatures  for 
their  salvation — other  than  by  the  dictates  of  their  orig 
inal  endowment — had  caused.  After  passing  through 
the  novitiate,  to  which  you  have  been  subjected,  I  be 
came  a  convert  to  the  manifest  evidence  adduced, 
that  the  germ-manic  was  evolved  from  the  germ-orang 
source,  while  in  suspension,  subject  to  balance  test  for 
aerial  flight  or  terrestrial  degradation.  Our  traditions, 
in  conjunction  with  those  of  the  Jews,  Magians  and 
Indians,  concurred  with  the  Chinese  in  the  transmit 
ted  evidence  that  the  transition,  in  degradation,  was 
caused  by  a  transgression  of  certain  natural  laws  es 
tablished  for  the  preservation  of  contentful  simplicity. 
From  collateral  symbolical  evidence,  this  agency  was 
over-induJgence  in  fruit  in  a  fermentable  state,  or  its 
liquid  product,  which  experience  had  denounced  as  a 
source  of  degredation.  Woman,  or  the  seductress,  in 
all  the  versions,  is  made  the  type  of  credulity  in  trans- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  191 

mitted  portrayal,  as  she  is  represented  as  the  dupe  to 
the  preaching  exhortations  of  the  Serpent  which  favor 
the  indulgence  of  her  longings  in  contra-distinction  to 
the  dictates  of  experienced  intelligence.  In  turn  she 
woos  man,  after  the  manner  of  Lot's  daughters,  and 
Cain  and  Abel  are  in  sequence  the  sectarian  results. 
As  a  traditional  proof  positive  of  germ-orang  origin 
the  Jews  believe  that  the  bone  Luz,  or  os  coccygeal, 
is  the  resurrectional  seed  that  will,  in  renewal,  devel 
op  the  soil  of  the  good  man  for  angelic  flight.  Our 
Arabians  and  the  Magians  distinguished  this  bone,  or 
the  seed-germ  of  reproduction,  in  the  original  state  of 
purity  as  Ajb  and  Tej.  In  one  of  our  earliest  sacred 
songs  it  is  styled  Ajb  e  al  ret,  or  the  tail  joint. 

"With  ordinary  capacity  for  thought  deductions, 
the  world's  attention  directed  to  the  developed  predis 
position  of  woo-man,  must  recognize,  in  all  her  fash 
ionable  society  traits  of  imitation,  a  germ-orang  in 
clination  to  observe  with  devotional  fealty  the  memo 
rial  rites  of  caudal  expression.  The  surgical  achieve 
ments  cf  the  doctors  Babi,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
full  regeneration,  by  the  tailacy  transferred  ingraft  of 
the  Gibbons  endowment,  upon  the  germ-orang  result 
of  their  missionary  labors,  has  proved  conclusively  the 
necessity  of  a  tail  as  an  addenda  source  of  amusing 
solace  for  the  encouragement  of  a  contentful  mood, 
and  that  its  loss  induces  a  contrary  effect,  with  ten 
dency  to  despondency,  and  succedaneum  use  of  the 
stomach  as  a  source  of  consolation.  Even  the  benev 
olent  satisfaction  that  the  old  patriarch  must  derive 
from  the  successful  disposal  of  his  tail  during  his  life 
time,  with  the  prospective  benefit  it  will  confer  upon 
the  posterity  of  Bridget,  is  not  sufficient  to  wean  him 
from  a  despondent  feeling  of  shame  and  nakedness, 
and  an  evident  feeling  of  disappointment  when  he  is 
obliged  to  substitute  faith  for  his  former  tangible  hold 
upon  reality.  As  an  unselfish  sacrifice,  for  the  regen 
erative  redemption  of  a  race,  it  is  certainly  unparal 
leled  in  the  history  of  mankind,  and  well  establishes 
the  traditional  authority  that  gave  to  the  sacral  bone 
its  name,  from  the  sinful  sacrifice  made  by  Eve  of  its 
caudal  appendage.  Eve  was  certainly  more  success- 


192  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

ful  as  the  original  promoter  of  fashionable  pretext 
than  the  fabled  fox  who  lost  his  tail  in  a  trap,  and 
failed  in  his  endeavor  to  make  his  misfortune  attractive 
for  general  adoption. 

"Yet  the  similarity  of  incident  would  lead  us  to  sus 
pect  that  the  author  insidiously  refered  to  Eve's  sacri 
fice  from  the  readiness  she  manifested  in  swallowing 
the  hook  with  the  Serpent's  bait. 

"From  the  mutual  reflection  of  opposing  disposi 
tions,  in  exchange,  by  the  donor  and  donee,  before 
and  after  the  tailacy  transfer,  we  can  trace  in  effect  the 
fearful  penalty  adjudged  to  Eve  for  her  transgression; 
and  in  transmission  to  her  posterity  the  transitions  of 
Mood-ee  and  Sank-ee  will  represent  the  Dives  and 
Lazarus  dispensations  of  rewards  and  punishments  for 
sins  of  pride  and  poverty  in  the  flesh. 

"In  like  manner,  in  special  penalty  commemoration 
of  Eve's  sexual  frailty,  her  successors  in  kind  are  con 
demned  to  perpetual  labor  for  the  multiplication  of 
fashionable  devices  to  cover  the  seat  of  their  en-tailed 
bereavement  in  artificial  similitude  to  the  supposed 
original  endowment  when  fledged  for  angelic  flight. 
But  from  a  lack  of  faith,  fashionable  experience  fails 
in  unity  of  design  for  the  accomplishment  of  an  effec 
tual  sufficiency  for  insuring  a  state  of  happy  content 
ment,  so  that  they  constantly  require  the  excitement 
of  renewed  caudal  impressions  to  keep  them  from 
ennui  and  despondency.  But  to  Bridget,  the  natural 
ingraft  of  caudality  affords  a  never-ending  source  of 
consolation,  and  amusement,  that  renders  the  use  of 
the  tongue,  for  speech  entertainment,  void  in  repudia 
tion  of  the  Serpent's  colloquial  sermonic  powers  of  per 
suasion  that  beguiled  her  maternal  ancestress  from 
her  allegiance. 

'•In  evidence  of  the  tail's  negative  power  of  restraint 
upon  speech,  you  will  find  truthful  attestation  in  the 
fact  that  Mood-ee  before  the  retributive  loss  or  sacri 
fice  of  his  tail  was  roguishly  ret-icent,  but  Sank-ee,  on 
the  contrary,  notwithstanding  his  incipient  caudality, 
supplied  by  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Gibbons,  was, 
Job -like,  constantly  lamenting  the  insufficiency  of  his 
material  hopes  for  contentment,  and  exhorting  his 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        193 

Kubu  germ-man  cousins  to  pray  without  ceasing  for 
redeeming  grace  sufficient  for  salvation.  But  now 
that  he  has  obtained,  through  the  ingeniously  inspired 
Convert,  a  contentful  realization  of  sufficiency  for  re 
deeming  grace,  he  makes  his  acquisition  the  exampled 
wand  of  silent  direction,  while  the  divorced  Mood-ee 
with  voluble  exhortation  beseeches  his  recreant  mem 
ber  to  repent  and  turn  back  to  its  former  alliance  be 
fore  it  is  too  late  for  salvation.  Still  more  significant 
is  the  marked  change  that  has  been  wrought  in  the 
Patriarch  and  Bridget.  Your  traveled  education  and 
cosmopolitan  experience  must,  in  sequence,  afford  you 
superior  advantages  for  the  suitable  adaptation  of  tails 
for  the  faithful  expression  of  the  motive  instincts  of 
the  leading  religious  and  political  vagarists  who  fur 
nish  their  followers  with  speech  capital  for  the  ex 
change  discussions  of  daily  intercourse.  With  the 
prompted  advantage  you  now  possess  for  discrimina 
tion,  you  would  never  lack  for  an  amusing  and  useful 
source  of  employment,  in  studying  the  variations  of 
faith  in  tail  manifestation,  from  the  angelic  predispo 
sition  of  Orang  source,  and  from  thence  in  degrada 
tion  through  the  metamorphosed  stages  of  translation 
from  the  gouty  effects  of  over-indulgence,  into  the 
elephant  and  tapir  species  of  the  higher  order  of  pen- 
du-queue  distinction,  the  stub  bear,  and  the  stub-twist 
swine,  developed  in  the  germ-manic  course  of  civil 
ized  progression.  With  your  present  direction  you 
may  yet  be  able  to  trace  the  tendencies  of  evolution 
in  degradation  for  human  assimilation  with  the  lower 
orders  of  the  pendu-queue  castes  of  instinct;  and  by 
offering  the  simple  means  of  correction  in  an  accept 
able  manner,  relieve  the  laboring  classes  from  the  self- 
imposed  misery  of  enacting  the  role  of  the  ass.  If  you 
can  devise  some  means  by  which  they  can  be  made  to 
understand  that  individuals  are  responsible  for  the 
world's  misery,  inasmuch  as  self-imposed  degrada 
tion  reduces  them  to  become  the  warrior  murderers 
for  the  wholesale  control  of  kings  and  rulers,  they 
will  in  train  comprehend  the  cause  that  has  reduced 
the  ass  to  become  a  servile  drudge,  with  Job's  pendu- 


194  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

queue  contentment,  subjected  to  the  single  choice  of  a 
thistle  diet. 

"Our  Arab  tribes  of  the  deserts  show  a  more  truth 
ful  distinctive  sincerity  in  professed  open  robbery,  with 
an  honest  hospitality,  than  nationalities  which  make 
traffic  subserve  as  a  cover  for  a  dishonest  meanness 
that  would  astonish  with  amazed  horror  the  most  ab 
ject  descendants  of  Ishmael.  If  you  can,  by  any  man 
ner  of  means,  make  the  laborers  realize  that  honest 
self-legislation  will  liberate  them  from  the  thraldom 
of  these  robber  distinctions,  with  the  only  difference 
of  greedy  subterfuge  in  enforcement,  you  will  open  to 
them  an  effectual  way  to  make  their  works  sufficient 
for  a  sustaining  faith  that  knowledge  is  derived  from 
and  should  be  improved  by  experience,  which  would 
lead  them  to  set  an  example  to  their  children  of  a  faith 
derived  from  works  which  should  have  commenced 
where  the  tail  of  contentment  was  sacrificed  for  cuckoo 
knowledge." 

With  this  peroration  my  Arab  prompter  bade  me  a 
hearty  good  night,  and  passed  on  his  way  homeward. 


DIARETICAL. 


As  you  live  in  a  land  where  the  resources  of  happy 
contentment  are  based  upon  the  fallacious  exchange  of 
gold  and  silver  assurances,  of  a  "little  more"  as  a 
sufficiency  for  faith  in  a  future,  I  am  afraid,  my  dear 
Marvel,  that  my  experience  above  the  earth  will  hardly 
suffice  for  your  longing  expectations  tending  to  the 
'  scientific "  discovery  of  new  gold  fields.  Never 
theless,  as  you  have  a  theoretical  I-dear  of  gold  and 
silver  wedding  epochs,  I  feel  inclined  to  make  you  my 
confidant  in  a  matter  of  affection  tending  to  a  more 
exalted  result.  You  are  already  aware  of  my  unhappy 
experience  in  the  marriage  contract  line  with  an 
abridged  daughter  of  Eve,  whose  fashionable  I-dears 
were  devoted  to  skirt  imitations  of  angelic  require 
ments  in  parachute  devisement.  Although  ready  to 
admit,  that  as  daughters  of  Eve  their  artificial  inven- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  195 

tions  are  very  apt  to  "  break  "  a  fall,  and  would  have 
served  their  ancestral  mother  a  good  turn  for  the  pre 
vention  of  her  original  catastrophe,  or  a  bed  to 
make  it  easy;  yet  as  they  only  serve  after  the  affair 
as  faith  emblems  in  commemorative  exaggeration  of  the 
rites  incident  to  the  cause,  they  are  to  me  now  charac 
teristic  in  degeneration,  as  if  each  fold,  layer,  plait,  or 
tag,  in  multiplication,  was  designed  to  cover  some 
new  frailty. 

Of  course,  with  your  gold  and  silver  allurements, 
these  female  addendas  are  looked  upon  as  grateful 
pledges  you  have  offered  for  the  sacrificial  adornment 
of  the  altars  of  incense  in  devotional  supplication  for 
a  renewal  of  past  favors;  but  now  that  I  have  seen  a 
being  clothed  in  the  full  angelic  similitude  of  our  first 
parent  before  her  fall,  I  have  become  enraptured  with 
the  desire  to  test  the  efficacy  of  her  caudality  to  im 
part  from  its  abounding  grace  a  united  share  of  its 
joyful  contentment.  As  you  may  have  pre-surmised, 
from  the  rhythmo-rhapsodical  impression  developed 
after  my  first  interview  with  the  highly  endowed 
Bridget  Kan  Avan,  my  sentimental  appreciation  of  her 
loving  capability  in  extension,  was  fully  aroused;  and 
I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  state  that  from  sympto 
matic  shyness  on  her  part  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
I  am  not  altogether  indifferent  to  her  ideas  of  a  happy 
connection.  Although  sensible  of  her  superior,  nat 
ural  and  acquired  advantages  from  the  ingraft  of  wis 
dom,  I  feel  that  out  of  her  superabundance  of  redeem 
ing  grace  she  will  esteem  her  loss  my  gain.  But,  alas! 
I  fear  that  my  frankness  will  only  expose  me  to  your 
prejudiced  laughter,  or  perhaps  you  may  think  that  I 
am  disposed  to  adopt  what  you  may  judge  to  be  the 
humorous  idiosyncrasy  of  my  entertainers,  who  ac 
knowledge  themselves  feoffees  to  the  orangs  by  en 
tailed  rights  derived  from  pre-Adamic  title . 

1  will  acknowledge  that  the  confidential  commu 
nication  of  Kan  Avan,  with  regard  to  his  tail  impres 
sions,  which  I  then  considered  to  be  the  effect  impart 
ed  to  the  mother  during  the  mento-conceptive  period 
of  gestation,  caused  a  disdainful  prejudice  that  de 
preciated  his  mental  capacity  in  my  estimation.  After 


196  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE    OF 

reading  Mr.  Leslie's  journalistic  narrative  which  repre 
sented  him  as  of  hybrid  orang  extraction,  I  looked 
upon  him  not  only  as  a  being  degraded  from  the  caste 
claims  of  humanity,  but  as  a  nondescript  natural  curi 
osity  that  would  afford  me  an  amusing  study.  This 
ante-judgment,  founded  upon  historical  tradition,  dem 
onstrates  clearly  the  little  reliance  we  can  place  in 
theoretical  opinions  having  their  origin  from  the  im 
pressions  of  the  organs  of  perception,  which  are  indi 
vidually  speculative  in  gradation,  from  the  lowest  in 
stinct  to  the  highest  emotional  attainments  of  human 
ity.  Test  experience  is  the  only  proof  of  safety  that 
can  anticipate,  with  assurance,  a  safe  result.  My  ideas 
of  natural  propriety  had  derived  their  origin  from  the 
traditional  impressions  of  habit, which  had  received  in 
turn  the  fashionable  substitutes  of  invention  as  pro 
gressive  improvements  in  subterfuge  devisement  for 
tail  expression,  as  with  artificial  limbs  and  teeth,  al 
though  lacking  in  their  useful  qualifications. 

With  the  proof  experience  of  Saar  Soong,  I  have 
learned  that  the  traditional  impressions  of  civilization, 
have  been  de-tailed  in  transmission  from  the  Serpent 
sermon,  Eve's  fall  in  consequence  and  rudimentary 
loss  of  the  germ-angelic  resources  of  flight,  and  natu 
ral  protection  from  shameful  exposure;  which  gave 
birth  to  sinful  subterfuge,  Cain  and  Abel's  sectarian 
example,  proxied  prayers,  rites  and  ceremonies  in  pre 
text  for  salvation  from  the  distailed  woes  inherited  from 
the  curse  of  multiplication,  that  exceeded  the  unculti 
vated  resources  of  fruitful  growth,  and  of  necessit}r 
enforced  labor.  But  in  the  characteristic  language  of 
Mohammed,  when  his  inventive  genius  witnessed  the 
effect  of  the  artificial  spire  erected  on  the  natural  dome 
of  the  Batavian,  'Allah  be  praised  for  this  natural 
revelation  of  the  Mynheer-ret!  for  the  like  as  an  ex- 
ampled  source  of  inspiration  must  prove  a  sacred  index 
of  direction  to  every  true  believer.'  I  felt  its  truthful 
impression  when  peeping  from  beneath  the  skirt  of 
Bridget's  dress,  in  waggish  exhortation,  I  saw  the  cau 
dal  extremity  of  her  angelic  nucleus  pointing  up 
ward  from  prehensile  curve,  with  the  desire  to  have 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        197 

me  embrace,  with  renewed  faith,  the  only  hopeful 
means  for  contentful  salvation. 

Notwithstanding  the  favorable  indications  of  recip 
rocal  attraction  afforded  by  our  first  interview,  and  my 
rhythmical  vision  of  cause  and  effect  enacted  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  her  full  endowment  for  fledged  an 
gelic  flight  has  made  me  feel  the  poverty  of  my  shame 
ful  bereavement;  so  that  through  fear  that  the  Patri 
arch's  tailacy  may  have  conveyed  to  her  his  own  im 
pressions  of  a  degenerate  mesalliance,  I  have  only 
seen  her  through  the  medium  of  my  field-glass  while 
engaged  in  the  mystic  evolutions  of  the  hand  dance. 
But  my  Arab  mentor  assures  me  that  the  tailacy  was 
conferred  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  fruits  of  the 
Gibbons'  missionary  labors,  in  a  legitimate  way,  for 
the  ingraft  of  contentment,  in  freedom  from  over-in 
dulgence  and  consequent  multiplication  of  misery.  So 
that  in  our  union  there  would  be  a  sufficiency  as  a 
capital  for  compound  investment,  and  with  but  a  slight 
contribution  of  faith  on  my  part  they  would  work  to 
gether  for  the  good  of  our  posterity  Your  thoughts 
will  of  course  suggest  the  "verdict  that  I  may  expect 
from  fashionable  society,  with  its  "wastes  and  bur 
dens,"  also  public  and  pendu-queue  herd  opinions, 
upon  the  outre  characteristics  of  "the  match;''  but 
with  my  experience,  a  wife  with  natural  resources  for 
self-gratification  and  amusement  is  greatly  to  be  pre 
ferred  above  one  who  is  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
millinery  aids  for  a  revival  of  faith  in  the  belief  of 
angelic  translation.  Society  from  its  artificial  preju 
dices  has  proved  a  "  waste  and  burden  ''  to  itself ,  as 
well  as  a  curse  to  the  laborer  who  toils  and  drudges  to 
bestow  the  rewards  upon  drones,  whose  capital  resides 
in  the  speculative  art  of  making  the  animal  propensi 
ties  of  their  victims  subjective,  by  fostering  habits  of 
indulgence  beyond  their  means.  For  these  legitimate 
desceudents  of  the  sermonic  Serpent  of  the  garden  of 
Eden,  whose  precepts  and  example  betray  their  origin, 
I  have  no  respect,  as  head,  tail  and  fangs  are  too 
closely  united  to  cause  other  emotions  than  those  be 
stowed  in  avoidance. 

If    you   could   only  enjoy  my  privileges,  my   dear 


198  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

Marvel,  you  would  be  soon  impressed  with  the  won 
derful  influence  exerted  for  the  inspiration  of  faith,  a* 
well  as  the  collateral  resources  of  contentment  and 
silent  meditation,  from  tail  contemplation  as  a  source 
of  realization.  At  present  you  are  obliged  to  consider 
its  influence  as  an  artificial  abstract,  with  a  special 
tendency  for  female  development  as  a  source  of  aton 
ing  grace;  but  if  you  could  inspire  the  members  of 
your  scientific  society  with  an  adequate  missionary  en 
thusiasm  for  the  extension  of  the  Gibbons'  art  of  Ku- 
bu  regeneration,  you  would  give  a  renewed  impulse  to 
the  word  reformation,  so  happily  inaugurated  by  Henry 
VIII  of  England.  I  have  faith  to  believe,  that  with 
the  fashionable  adoption  of  the  Kubu  germ-oraug  re 
vival  of  the  caudal  extremity,  the  inventive  genius  of 
your  people  would  soon  devise  means  for  its  useful 
extention,  with  tailophonic  communication  with  the 
brain,  as  an  inspiring  source  for  the  reciprocation  of 
reformatory  knowledge.  With  an  experienced  knowl 
edge  of  Bridget's  accomplishments,  combining  the 
useful,  amusing  and  self-entertaining,  your  society 
members  would,  I  am  certain,  become  enthusiastically 
active  for  the  promotion  of  an  object  with  a  caudal 
tendency  to  restore  modesty  to  her  original  and  sinless 
seat  of  devotion,  in  freedom  from  the  brain  cozening 
devices  of  "virtue  and  morality"  derived  from  the 
languaged  vocabulary  of  the  sermonic  Serpent.  To 
this  end  the  efficacy  of  my  own  experience  can  testify, 
as  I  have  found  an  increase  of  abiding  faith  in  it  as 
the  source  of  our  hopes  for  angelic  evolution  With 
due  consideration,  the  members  of  our  scientific  Alma 
Mater,  will,  I  am  sure,  appreciate  this  addenda  re 
source  for  the  relief  of  their  brains  from  the  surcharge 
of  theoretical  knowledge,  and  the  wear  and  tear  of 
their  tongues  in  word  evolution,  as  well  as  its  prece- 
dental  value  as  an  index  of  reference,  and  silent  mon 
itor  for  hopeful  inspiration ! 

Thirty  minutes  later.  As  if  in  prophetic  proof-ful 
fillment  of  my  ante-date  sentence,  as  I  closed  it,  my 
eyes  caught  sight  of  Bridget,  and  her  sister  train,  ap 
proaching  at  a  swift  hand  pace,  from  limb  to  bough, 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  199 

up  the  tree  avenue  of  the  orang  walk,  which  is  com 
manded  by  my  cottage  window.  Breathless  with  ex 
pectation,  my  eyes  watched  her  graceful  movements, 
which  were  accompanied  in  concerted  action  and 
caudal  expression,  with  an  entranced  gaze,  that  seemed 
to  annihilate  space  for  her  embodiment  with  self-invis- 
ioned  reality,  until  she  alighted  at  my  window  and 
presented  to  me  a  letter,  which  was  delicately  retained 
within  the  prehensile  curve  of  the  patriarch's  tailacy. 
It  has  been  my  lot  to  receive  presents  from  the  fair 
hands  of  our  civilized  ladies,  with  the  enhancing 
sparkle  of  brilliant  eyes,  and  melodious  chime  of  cul 
tivated  speech,  but  never  with  such  ecstatic  emotions  as 
were  imparted  from  that  primo-germ-orang  source  of 
contentment.  Never  will  the  inexpressible  emotions 
of  that  moment  pass  from  my  memory,  impressed  as 
they  were  with  the  tailophonic  expression  of  her  eyes 
as  an  assurance  of  loving  brain  concurrence,  under 
the  supervision,  in  extension,  of  the  savior-beneficed 
wisdom  of  the  patriarch.  Grateful  expression,  with 
words,  would  have  proved  an  aggravation  in  recom 
pense  for  the  caudal  impressions  imparted  from  that 
guileless  touch.  Seemingly  aware,  in  retroversion,  of 
my  reciprocation,  she  turned  and  departed  as  she  came; 
and,  if  possible,  I  was  still  more  entranced  with  the 
retrospective  grace  of  her  movements,  especially  as 
the  emblematic  source  of  attraction  was  depressed  in  re 
gretful  signification  of  deferred  hopes.  Long  after 
Bridget  and  her  train  had  passed  from  view,  I  con 
tinued  to  gaze  into  the  halo  vacancy  through  which 
she  had  bodily  disappeared. 

My  dear  Marvel,  if  you  could  but  realize  the  vast 
difference  between  Christian  love  founded  upon  the 
redeeming  grace  of  faith  in  artificial  rites,  as  the  means 
of  atonement  for  Eve's  transgression,  and  true  caud 
al  ity  ingrafted  upon  the  regenerated  germ-angelic, 
which  she  sacrificed  for  the  attainment  of  theoretical 
knowledge  founded  upon  practical  experience,  beyond 
the  reach  of  saving  grace  from  repentance,  you  would 
be  able  to  appreciate  and  sympathize  with  my  shame 
ful  doubts  of  eligibility  to  share  with  her  a  tailacy  that 


200  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

suffices  for  perfect  contentment,  while  I  am  solely  de 
pendent  upon  pendu-queue  coat-tails  to  cover  my 
nakedness.  Still,  there  is  in  her  addenda  an  attrac 
tion  that  proves  a  prefix  of  infatuation  for  my  constant 
gaze,  so  that  I  am  like  the  man  with  the  sun  in  his 
rear  in  pursuit  of  his  shadow  for  reunion, while  the  sub 
stance  of  the  thing  hoped  for  resides  within  himself. 

Forty  Minutes  after  the  conclusion  of  the  above  sentence: 
Of  one  thing  1  feel  certain,  rhythmic  measure  must 
have  been  entailed  as  a  source  of  angelic  faith  from  a 
pre-Eveic  state,  which  was  allowed  to  be  retained  as 
the  dower  of  hope  for  poetic  revival  after  Eve-viction. 

The  head  and  tail,  with  faith,  must  oft  combine 
To  give  with  truthful  sense  the  force  of  rhyme; 
That  this  is  fact,  the  poets'  list  will  show, 
When  traced  from  Solomon  to  Edgar  Poe. 

In  proof,  when  recovered  from  my  halo  impression, 
forgetful  of  the  letter  cause  of  her  visit,  I  sought,  with 
my  field-glass,  an  interview  at  her  try  sting-place  in  the 
oak  grove.  With  the  first  focal  glance,  I  became  aware 
of  a  costumic  revival  of  Eve's  subterfuge  for  the  con 
cealment  of  her  shame,  which  gave  vent  to  the  follow 
ing  inspiration  : 

"  Gentle  Bridget,  as  thy  tail  peeps  out, 

From  beneath  thy  leafy  dress  of  fern, 
Its  taper  upward  curve,  lithe  wags  about, 

As  if,  from  extension,  it  would  spurn, 
The  native  dress,  bound   with  orchid  vine, 
In  faint  resemblance  to  crinoline. 

"  When  withdrawn,  from  present  index  state, 

And  the  hirsute  dress,  that  nature  gave, 
Is  doff'd  by  the  onward  march  of  fate, 

And  tailless,  a  soul  is  gained  to  save; 
Your  successors'  children  then  will  find 
The  poor  exchange  made  with  tail  for  mind. 

"  Even  with  your  beauty's  partial  dawn, 
While  yet  remnant  tail  and  hair  remain, 

Departing  relics  of  wood-nymph  faun, 
Past  shadows  will  cause  you  future  pain; 

Should  herald  proclaim  your  '  coat  of  arms,* 

As  a  vise  to  fashion's  social  charms. 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  201 

Alas,  innovations  spell  is  cast, 

And  the  long  ancestral  Gibbons  tail, 
With  its  pedigree,  now  waning  fast, 

Like  earthly  hopes  entailed,  soon  will  fail. 
Then  vanity,  with  fickle  passion, 
Will  make  it  cause  for  change  of  fashion. 

Now  your  cravings  nature  well  supplies, 
And  instinct  finds  present  recompense 

In  each  passing  moment  as  it  flies. 

Kegretful  sorrows,  that  wait  on  '  sense,' 

From  envious  hate  and  jealous  scorn, 

Will  prove,  with  knowledge,  a  constant  thorn. 

Still,  if  you  make  a  wise  selection, 
Of  age,  well-matured  from  nature's  page, 

From  cross  you  will  find  sure  protection; 

For,  with  mind  entailed — your  husband's  gage — 

Will  far  exceed,  in  intrinsic  worth, 

Reputation,  gained  alone  by  birth  !  " 


When  the  pic-nic  revival  scene,  consequent  upon 
Eve-viction,  had  received  satisfactory  commemoration, 
the  nymphs,  under  Bridget's  lead,  winged  their  way 
in  unfledged  hand  flight,  homeward,  and  I  returned  to 
my  cottage  to  meditate  upon  the  ways  and  means,  in 
devisement,  for  the  attainment  of  my  hopes,  and  if 
realized,  in  question  of  the  result. 


SUMMARY  MEDITATIONS. 

In  view  of  the  Chata  revelations, which  had  served 
as  an  index  for  the  direction  of  my  thought  observa 
tions,  I  accepted  the  Bible  record  of  traditionary  tran 
sitions  as  reliable,  when  divested  from  the  ritual 
absurdities  imposed  by  priestcraft  for  holding  in 
subjection  the  laboring  masses  by  the  substitution  of 
awe  impressions  for  the  prevention  of  self-legislation 
from  the  realizations  of  fact  deduced  from  the  test  of 
experience.  As  the  recorded  traditions  of  the  Bible 
correspond  with  the  Indian  and  Chinese  of  older  date, 
in  all  of  the  essentials  of  fact  revelation,  we  can  easily 
9* 


202  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

detect  the  deviations  from  variations  in  ceremonial 
impositions,  designed  in  origin,  and  continuation,  for 
the  reduction  of  the  masses  to  a  thoughtless  automatic 
condition  that  would  render  them  patiently  subservient 
in  movement  to  the  controlling  selfishness  of  the  few. 
The  motive  and  thoughtless  base  of  curiosity  upon 
which  it  was  founded  is  clearly  demonstrated  in  the 
Ved-Pueng  and  Bible  revelations  of  the  original  source 
of  the  ascribed  transgressions.  With  the  advantage 
afforded  by  my  experienced  knowledge  of  woman's 
curious  credulity  under  the  fashionable  affiliations  of 
civilized  society  and  savage  control,  it  is  easy  for  me, 
under  direction,  to  trace,  with  Bridget's  exemplar 
transitions,  in  regenerative  reversion,  the  medium  pro 
cess  of  enactment  that  transpired  with  Eve  as  the  se 
duced  victim  of  the  sermonic  Serpent  and  seductress 
of  Adam.  That  an  appreciative  value  of  substantive 
privilege  can  alone  be  estimated  by  experienced  de 
privation,  is  a  traditionary  fact  well  established  in 
transmissive  enactment  from  Eve,  as  the  experimental 
inceptive  cause,  to  the  latest  result. 

Experience  has  taught  the  human  descendants,  in 
sequence  to  the  uncaudalized  knowledge  of  Eve  and 
Adam,  that  members  perfected  from  deciduous  incep 
tion  are  never  re-supplied  from  natural  resources 
when  lost;  the  deduced  rare  exceptions  having  been 
traced  to  germ  duplication. 

But,  as  with  our  first  parents,  repentant  shame  and 
a  feeling  of  naked  destitution  leads  to  lamentation, 
prayers  for  restitution,  memorial  ritual  observances 
founded  upon  habit,  and,  when  practicable,  artificial 
substitutes.  Equally  well  known  is  the  fact  that,  with 
the  deciduous  exceptions,  the  loss  of  an  incorporate 
member  does  not  impair  the  sensorial  impression  of 
its  continued  functional  existence.  In  evidence  that 
the  loss  of  the  tail  was  from  primal  cause  founded 
upon  a  transgression  of  Nature's  laws,  as  in  partial  de 
gree  demonstrated  by  the  Bible's  traditionary  record, 
is  sustained  in  Eve  sequence  by  woman's  artificial  me 
morial  rites  of  commemoration  from  transmitted  hab 
itual  impressions;  and  man's  continued  devotion  to 
the  lure  instigated  by  the  preaching  beguilement  of 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  203 

the  Serpent,  which  consummated  the  transgression 
with  the  curse  of  continued  tailless  reproduction  in 
multiplied  progression.  The  tailful  expression  of 
Bridget's  congenial  contentment  and  caudal  source  of 
amusement,  in  freedom  from  ennui  and  disinclination 
to  talk  with  its  accession,  in  contrast  with  her  pre 
vious  despondent  state,  consequent  upon  gossiping 
loquacity,  at  once  declares  the  ascendency  of  the  orang 
tail  as  the  prime  ordinate  source  designed  for  angelic 
development.  With  these  enforced  reflections,  conse 
quent  upon  the  exampled  Chata  illustrations,  I  cannot 
escape  the  certain  conviction  that  Eve  and  Adam  con 
tinued  to  act  under  the  sermonic  Serpent's  inspiration 
of  faith  in  the  belief  of  their  god-like  attainments  in 
defiance  of  the  misery  incurred  from  continued  indul 
gence.  Else,  as  the  only  exemplars  of  their  kind,  they 
would  have  exerted  a  happy  influence  for  the  imitation 
of  their  children.  The  sectarian  manifestation  of  en 
vious  hatred  by  Cain  and  Abel  shows  clearly  that  their 
sacrificial  devotions  were  derived  from  Serpent  inspir 
ation,  as  they  were  devoid  of  the  contentful  affection 
inherent  with  their  parent's  first  estate. 

The  probable  effect  produced  upon  Adam  by  the  loss 
of  his  tail  I  can  see  illustrated  by  the  de-tailed  orang 
Mood-ee,  who  is  condemned  to  follow  his  transferred 
member  with  the  forlorn  hope  that  faith,  in  words  of 
exhortation,  prayer,  and  anathematization,  will  prove 
sufficient  for  its  final  restoration  and  his  redemption 
from  the  sinful  tendency  of  an  upright  walk  to  total 
depravity.  In  the  possessive  tail  ecstacy  of  San  Kee 
and  the  special  desire  he  shows  toward  a  young  female 
Gibbons,  I  can  readily  trace  in  her  indifference  and 
coquettish  allurements  the  cause  that  led  to  Adam's 
fall.  Indeed,  from  the  mature  judgment  that  has  been 
shown  by  the  Doctors  Babi  as  tail  curators  and  genea 
logical  delineators  of  genus  and  specie  variations,  with 
their  predisposing  traits  of  instinct,  I  feel  well  assured 
from  my  own  impressions  that  faith  manifestations  can 
be  humanized  as  a  test  of  society's  caste  grades.  From 
the  prehensile  long-tailed,  adapted  for  the  full  realiza 
tion  of  faith  in  abounding  grace,  through  all  the  pendu- 
queue  gradations  of  brush  or  foxy,  tuft,  ox,  ass,  lion, 


204     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

down  to  the  stub  and  stub-twist,  the  distinctions  in 
human  expression  are  as  evident,  when  patronized,  as 
in  instinct  specialties  to  the  disposition  born.  This 
much,  from  contrasted  reflection  of  past  experience 
with  present,  I  have  been  able  to  verify. 

Mr.  Leslie,  sr.,  who  has  just  entered,  expresses  a  de 
sire,  with  smiling  inquisitiveness,  to  learn  the  contents 
of  the  letter  brought  by  Bridget,  which  her  presence 
had  caused  me  to  forget.  In  compliance  with  his  re 
quest  I  opened  it  and  found  that  it  was  from  her 
brother.  As  its  contents  are  characteristically  expres 
sive  of  educated  Kubu  capacity,  I  will  copy  it  for  your 
perusal.  It  clearly  shows  how  easy  it  is  to  pervert  the 
natural  tendency  of  the  Gibbons  missionary  labors 
when  subject  to  the  habits  and  customs  of  a  pendu- 
queue  faith  belief  in  the  immaculate  conception  and 
kindred  transubstantiations. 


"  KAN  AVAN  VILLA,  Ides  of  September. 

'  'CHER  AMICUS  : — Now  that  circumstances  over  which  I 
have  no  control  oblige  me  to  depart  from  the  newly- 
found  home  of  my  birth,  without  the  prospect  of  be 
ing  able  to  pay  my  respects  to  you  in  person,  I  will 
endeavor  to  show  cause  why  and  wherefore  this  reso 
lution  has  been  forced  upon  me  nolens  volrns,  on  a 
sudden  emergency,  which  will  have  taken  place  some 
hours  before  you  receive  this,  in  the  event  that  it  is 
not  delivered  to  you  until  after  I  leave.  Whichever 
may  be  the  case,  adsum  atento:  that  is  to  say,  I  would 
commend  your  special  attention  to  what  I  am  about  to 
write.  I  had  planned  for  your  honor's  special  grati 
fication  a  little  dejeune  banquet  in  token  of  my  esteem, 
to  be  flavored  with  the  champagne  essence  of  Veuve 
Clicquot!  But  after  my  long  parental  search  I  brought 
my  eggs  to  a  bad  market,  and  they  have  all  been 
broken. 

"By  me  faith,  I  speak  the  truth  when  I  confide  in 
you,  entre  nous,  the  fact,  that  after  all  my  devotion  it 
has  been  rewarded  with  a  vandal  invasion  of  my  rights 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  205 

of  person  and  property.  The  attack  was  unprovoked 
and  most  cowardly,  as  my  unnatural  sisters  took  me 
at  a  disadvantage  while  me  and  my  father  were  sub 
ject  to  a  spiritual  trance,  and  while  hors  du  combat  and 
unable  to  defend  myself  they  bound  me  to  a  couch, 
and  under  the  direction  of  the  nagur  doctor  actually 
bastinadoed  the  soles  of  my  feet,  for  the  purpose,  as 
he  pretended,  of  producing  reaction  for  the  relief  of 
my  brain.  You  may  be  sure  that  I  expostulated  in 
the  strongest  cosmopolitan  language  known  to  sacred 
or  profane  history,  but  it  only  aggravated  the  counter 
irritation,  as  the  nagur  called  it.  There  is  a  point, 
you  known,  where  endurance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue; 
well,  when  they  reached  that  I  am  ashamed  to  say 
that  my  Spartan  courage  left  me,  and  I  begged  them 
to  let  me  reason  the  case  in  my  own  defence.  Well, 
then  they  stopped,  but  placed  a  glass  before  me,  and 
I  will  acknowledge  that  the  looks  of  my  face  and  a 
glance  at  my  father's  left  me  little  courage  for  argu 
ment,  and  I  gave  it  up.  Then  they  washed,  dressed 
and  petted  me,  and  finally,  with  their  kind  treatment, 
wheedled  out  of  me  a  promise  not  to  use  ardent  spirits 
or  tobacco;  but  as  it  was  a  kind  of  compulsion,  I  didn't 
feel  that  I  had  pledged  my  word  of  honor.  The  fact 
is,  I  found  the  whole  family,  except  father,  in  a  com 
plete  state  of  heathenism,  with  little  or  110  knowledge 
of  the  rites  and  ordinances  of  religion,  and  as  for  a 
prayer-book,  or  anything  of  the  kind,  there  is  not  one 
to  be  found  on  the  estate.  For  I  hunted  for  one, 
when  I  was  overtaken  the  third  time,  to  show  them  the 
authority  of  my  quotation  that  sins  are  meet  for  re 
pentance,  and  are  only  to  be  punished  by  the  law,  and 
that  the  transgressor  is  to  be  forgiven  for  the  seventy- 
seventh  time. 

"To  make  a  long  matter  short,  father  and  I  over 
hauled  the  old  glen-still,  and  run  it  with  a  banana  and 
potato  mash,  and  a  fortnight  ago  got  into  a  little  re 
ligious  and  political  argument  while  testing  the  liquor; 
but  I  was  in  flesh  and  short  winded,  and  he  got  the 
better  of  me,  so  they  found  us  the  next  morning  where 
we  fell,  father  keeping  his  advantage,  and  carted  us 
home  with  as  little  regard  to  affectionate  secrecy  and 


206  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

shame  as  if  we  had  been  the  carcasses  of  swine,  in 
stead  of  being  as  we  were  a  father  and  brother. 
When  they  had  '  brought  us  about'  with  the  bastinado, 
in  the  usual  way,  I  gave  them  a  piece  of  my  mind, 
and  as  the  effects  of  the  liquor,  from  the  combination 
(my  own  invention)  was  a  little  stronger  than  we  had 
calculated,  nay  feet  were  not  in  a  condition  to  make 
me  mince  matters  in  speech  when  they  had  established 
an  equilibrium  in  the  circulation,  as  the  nagur  called 
it.  But,  as  father  was  getting  an  extra  dose  from  my 
exhortation,  '  and  the  bad  example  he  had  set  me  in 
the  multiplication  of  curses,'  in  anguish  of  spirit  he 
cried,  '  Pat,  my  boy,  will  ye  be  after  holding  your  gab, 
and  profit  by  my  experience  ? — else  ye'll  pay  the  debt 
of  old  Adam  over  again  with  interest.' 

"  When  I  accused  them  of  their  barbarous  and  Cain- 
like  lack  of  filial  and  fraternal  love  and  gratitude,  as 
well  as  of  a  generous  spirit  of  pity  that  should  have 
pleaded  with  gentle  words  of  caution,  that  we  should 
use  the  luxuries  of  life  bestowed  by  a  kind  Providence 
for  our  regalement,  with  moderation,  they  answered 
with  one  voice,  that  we  had  transgressed  the  natural 
provisions  of  Providence  for  slaking  our  thirst  which 
had  been  self-created  by  an  artificial  stimulus,  and 
that  as  like  cures  like,  they  had  adopted  the  best  means 
for  our  recovery.  Delilah  seems  to  be  the  mouth 
piece  of  the  old  doctor,  and  is  as  pungent  in  speech 
as  act,  for  when  I  referred  to  the  rheumatic  tenderness 
of  my  feet  to  enlist  her  pity,  she  said  that  the  pains 
and  creaking  of  the  bones  of  my  feet  and  hands  were 
only  the  premonitory  symptoms  of  hoof  evolution,  as 
a  warning  of  the  beastly  tendency  of  my  habits,  and 
that  the  elongation  and  swelling  redness  of  my  nose 
'  indicated  its  transformation  into  a  snout  with  which 
the  bleared  eyes  and  swag  belly  were  in  correspond 
ence!'  In  faith,  I  have  more  than  a  presentiment  that 
the  old  nagur  of  a  doctor,  with  his  sons,  intends  to  en 
dow  me  with  the  patriarchess'  cauclality  if  I  am  caught 
napping  again  under  high  pressure,  which  they  style 
a  dernier  resort  for  my  reformation !  So  you  see,  that 
I  must  not  stand  on  the  order  of  my  going,  but  go,  if 
I  would  preserve  my  naturalized  birthright  as  an 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN   SUMATRA.  207 

American  citizen.  Nevertheless,  if  the  Chinese  are 
allowed  to  come  in  under  their  artificial  tail  memorial, 
the  California  judicature  could  not  with  reason  deny 
my  primogenital  rights  of  precedence  under  an  acces 
sion  of  tail  from  natural  ingraft,  although  it  might 
raise  the  question  of  woman's  votive  privilege  if  the 
source  of  the  endowment  became  generally  known. 
You  will  understand  from  the  word  vamos,  that  my 
political  ambition  still  lives  and  yearns  for  a  free  coun 
try,  but  as  tail  honors  and  distinctions  are  not  recog 
nized  there  openly,  as  yet,  except  as  ordinance  rites, 
legitimate  fact  attestation  of  my  caste  superiority 
would  rather  injure  than  avail  me,  so  it's  better  that  I 
should  still  take  Time  by  the  forelock,  instead  of  wait 
ing  to  lay  hold  of  his  tail  extension,  or  allowing  my 
opponents  to  lay  hold  of  mine,  to  decry  me  and  their 
own  lack  of  genealogical  knowledge.  But  with  my 
present  experience  I  might  say, 

"  'Arrah,  if  I  only  had  the  power  to  induce  them  to  take 
A  demijohn  apiece  of  the  leveling  mixture  I  could  make, 
Not  an  aristocratic  lord  of  them  all  should  be  left  standing 
To  wheedle  democratic  voters  to  the  polls  by  commanding.' 

But  enough  of  myself  for  the  present.  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  Delilah  and  Judith  were  the  doctor's  special 
instruments  for  the  infliction  of  his  diabolical  instiga 
tions,  and  not  Bridget,  who  took  a  love  fancy  to  you 
at  first  sight,  and  should  hate  that  doctor  forevermorft 
for  inoculating  her  with  the  outrageous  tail  of  the  old 
Patriarch,  who  was  induced  to  bequeath  it  under  the 
pretension  that  as  it  was  mother  Eve's  source  of  con 
tentment,  before  she  lost  it  by  her  fall,  it  would  cure 
her  despondency.  But,  for  all  that,  I  am  sure  that 
the  capacity  of  her  accomplishments,  to  which  it  adds 
in  a  remarkable  degree — having  relieved  her  from  the 
fears  she  entertained  of  the  lack  of  sufficiency  of  the 
Gibbons  missionary  labors  for  salvation — would  do 
your  choice  honor;  bating  the  novelty  of  her  resources 
in  superiority  over  the  unregenerated  modern  lady, 
for  with  constant  devotion  to  the  development  of  its 
innate  capacity  she  has  made  it  useful  and  amusing  as 


208  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

well  as  ornamental,  and  with  its  companionship   she 
never  suffers  from  ennui. 

"As  you  are  learned  in  the  law,  it  struck  me,  as  long  as 
the  thing  has  been  done  and  is  irrevocable,  that  per 
haps  in  an  equity  suit  you  might  prove — as  the  Leslies 
acknowledge  themselves  feoffees,  from  him — that  the 
patriarch  intended  the  transfer  of  his  tailacy  as  a  con 
veyance  of  his  primogenital  rights  in  the  Saar  Soong 
property  in  entail  to  her,  with  the  documentary  evi 
dence  of  his  own  caudal  in  proof  as  signature!  It 
would  appear  to  me  that  a  free  and  enlightened  jury 
under  oath  to  divulge  nothing  but  truth  in  their  ver 
dict,  would  so  consider  it,  with  the  fear  of  confes 
sion  and  absolution  in  view!  To  be  sure  it  would  have 
appeared  more  legitimate  if  in  infancy  you  had  been 
blessed  with  the  advantages  of  the  Gibbons  missionary 
labors  for  a  more  direct  translation  of  the  instrument 
of  bequest  through  you  to  her  posterity.  However, 
entre  nous,  Bridget  has  confided  her  predilection  for 
you  to  me,  and  I  heard  her  in  apostrophe  addressing 
her  love  to  you  in  the  pathetic  language  of  Kuth : 
'Thy  God  shall  be  my  god,  thy  people  my  people, 
and  my  tail  thy  tail,  or  a  sufficiency  thereof  for  full 
faith  in  its  efficacy  for  angelic  regeneration  and  con 
tentment!3  Of  course  it  can't  be  expected  that  I  can 
understand  all  the  hifalutin  ideas  that  they  have  put 
into  her  head,  that  made  her  feel,  as  she  said,  the  in 
sufficiency  of  her  initial  endowment  for  a  realization  of 
angelic  faith.  But  the  old  Hindu  has  instilled  into  her 
as  well  as  the  rest  that  the  old  Serpent  beguiled  Eve  to 
induce  Adam  to  indulge  in  a  draught  of  the  fermented 
juice  of  the  cocoa  stem,  with  the  belief  that  it  would 
give  him  the  godlike  power  to  re-create  in  the  likeness 
of  himself  for  the  worship  of  his  posterity.  But,  too 
late  for  remedy,  he  got  fou,  and  Eve  conceived  Cain 
in  the  likeness  of  the  tempter,  and  thereafter  caused 
the  seal  of  paternity  to  become  a  source  of  theoretical 
perplexity.  They  urge  that  my  civilized  habits  and 
tastes  are  artificial,  and  derived  from  the  source  of 
temptation,  and  that  they  increase  appetite  for  the 
craving  of  more  than  enough  for  healthy  satisfaction, 
and  that  the  simple  unfermented  juices  of  fruits  are 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  209 

far  more  refreshingly  grateful  to  the  natural  taste  than 
in  the  irritating  forms  derived  from  distillation.  When 
I  referred  them  to  the  testimony  of  Noah,  Lot,  Solo 
mon  and  St.  Paul,  and  other  scripture  worthies,  as 
authority  for  stimulating  our  nervous  systems  up  to  a 
just  appreciation  of  past  witty  reminiscences;  they  re 
plied  that  my  quotations  and  acts  demonstrated  the 
continued  multiplication  of  the  absurd  follies  that 
served  as  capital  of  re-enactment  for  the  Bible's  pro 
phetic  record.  But  that  true  affection  would  prove  an 
exampled  record  that  would  banish  regretful  reflec 
tions,  and  raise  the  standard  of  earthly  enjoyment  be 
yond  the  reach  of  temptation  from  gratifications  in  ex 
cess  of  enough  for  the  realization  of  health. 

"In  fact,  while  under  the  impressions  of  a  severe 
headache,  and  the  persuasive  admonitions  of  sisterly 
love  applied  to  the  soles  of  my  feet,  I  was  forced  to 
confess  that  I  had  given  little  heed  to  the  warnings  of 
experience.  Even  my  father,  who  trims  his  sails,  when 
sober,  to  catch  the  favoring  waft  of  the  domestic  breeze, 
while  I  was  remonstrating  with  Delilah  and  Judith 
upon  the  indelicacy  of  appearing  in  their  native  garb, 
without  the  advantage  of  Bridget's  modest  screen  from 
shame,  addressed  me  with  reproof. 

"  'Pat,'  says  he,  '  its  but  little  you'll  gain  by  the 
use  of  your  tongue  if  ye  cannot  spake  the  Christian 
language  dacently;  an  by  that  same  token  ye'll  multi 
ply  your  woes  for  me  to  bear  the  penalties,  for  they  lay 
it  to  my  charge  that  ye  have  not  improved  your  advan 
tages  to  grow  in  grace  for  the  sanctification  of  your 
natural  endowment.  Now  Pat,  if  ye'll  be  spachless, 
or  think  before  ye  speak,  ye'll  be  an  example  for  your 
poor  old  father,  who  has  suffered  so  much  that  ye 
might  be  educated  with  the  advantages  of  spiritual 
toleration.'  You  see,  my  dear  M.  Shawtinbach,  that 
I  am  in  a  sort  of  outlawry,  both  natural  and  religious. 
The  tailors  laughed  at  me,  my  uncle  half  repudiated 
my  relationship,  and  the  priests  were  doubtful  whether 
I  was  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  confession  and  ab 
solution,  while  the  giggling  iuuendos  of  the  girls  de 
clared  my  secret  patent,  and  marriage  hopeless  unless 
I  was  willing  to  accept  the  forlorn  hope  of  an  old 


210  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

maid's  affection,  which  had  run  the  gauntlet  of  disap 
pointed  expectations  to  the  extent  of  their  tailings. 

' '  Even  here  I  am  put  to  shame  by  my  own  relatives 
who  accuse  me  of  neglecting  to  cultivate  my  natural 
talent  developed  by  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Gib 
bons.  As  there  is  nothing  private  or  sacred  here — 
which  you  have  probably  learned  ere  this — it  will  not 
surprise  you  to  learn,  or  offend  the  delicacy  of  your 
sensibility,  when  I  inform  you  that  they  took  advan 
tage  of  my  person  when  I  was  under  a  cloud,  and  held 
a  sort  of  post  mortem  measurement  of  my  germ  cau 
dal  for  comparison  with  my  sisters'.  The  result  of 
this  surreptitious  infringement  upon  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  personal  constitution  sacred  to  civilized 
and  religious  codes,  was  an  inch  lost  by  retraction. 
This  discrepancy  the  doctor  attributed  to  gouty  rheu 
matism  from  over-indulgence,  but  in  my  opinion  the 
tailors  were  more  directly  accountable,  but  they  usual 
ly  asked  me  whether  I  was  accustomed  to  wear  it  out 
or  in,  so  that  it  will  exculpate  them  from  wilful  inten 
tion.  But,  as  with  Father  Oderat  and  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Rantkin,  you  have  apostatized  from  the  belief  that 
faith  in  artificial  ordinances  of  tail  grace  are  sufficient 
in  efficacy  for  heavenly  assurance,  I  can  give  you  a 
brother's  word  that  you  will  find  in  Bridget  convincing 
proof  of  a  happy  reality  that  with  works  will  bring 
forth  fruits  well  fledged  with  the  spirit  of  pre-historic 
contentment.  But  if  you'd  prefer  a  real  sprig  of  our 
family  tail  free  from  ingraft,  with  a  spice  of  the  devil 
that  caused  Mother  Eve  to  beget  Cain,  you  can  take 
Delilah,  and  you'll  be  sure  to  work  out  your  own  sal 
vation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  by  that  same  token 
you'll  never  know  when  you're  safe  in  your  own  boots. 

''  With  this  warning  you'll  have  to  bide  your  choice, 
for  Saar  Soong  is  no  she-cargo  where  you  can  change 
your  freight  at  will. 

"Bridget's  cultivated  natural  capacity  for  discours 
ing,  with  soul-inspiring  instrumental  accompaniments, 
angelic  melodies,  exceeds  by  far  that  of  any  artist  that 
ever  lived  within  the  historic  period  of  our  world. 
This  statement  may  appear  to  you  like  the  boasting 
egotism  derived  from  the  genealogical  impression  of 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  211 

hereditary  nobility! — but  I  can  assure  you  that  with 
the  full  consummation  of  marital  rites  you  will  thank 
fully  acknowledge  that  it  is  a  stern  reality  that  in 
self-glorification  will  more  than  vindicate  the  partiality 
of  a  brother's  reverential  love.  However  much,  secta 
rian  and  scientific  captiousiiess  may  cavil  in  questioning 
the  legitimacy  of  her  superior  endowment,  they  can't 
abridge  the  fact  of  possession  by  any  theory  that  re 
fuses  to  acknowledge  tbe  natural  restitution  and  con 
centration  of  power  in  the  original  seat  of  honor,  de 
vised  for  the  contentment  of  Adam  and  Eve,  before 
the  united  head  and  tail  of  the  Serpent  made  our  com 
mon  mother  covetous  for  the  realization  of  its  god 
like  power.  In  faith,  the  fact  can't  be  disputed  that 
love  of  country  and  truth,  as  well  as  pat-riot-ism,  de 
rive  their  source  of  nativity  from  thence,  which  begets 
a  germ-manic  reverence  for  the  subjacent  soil  of  their 
mater-land  birthplace.  An  sure,  the  proof  is,  that  its 
not  the  truth  at  all  that  the  world's  been  seeking, 
since  the  head  assumed  the  abdicated  functions  of  the 
tail!  but  the  diplomatic  means  of  mystifying  its  orig 
inal  aspirations  as  the  source  of  contentment.  Or  as 
the  nagur  doctor  says,  that  when  the  honest  wag  of 
the  tail  was  sacrificed  by  mother  Eve's  ambitious 
vanity,  her  tempter,  the  old  Sarpint,  the  father  of  lies, 
transferred  to  her  tongue  its  waggish  propensities  and 
endowed  it  with  the  speech  functions  of  his  specialty  for 
the  multiplication  of  words  as  the  preaching  source  of 
faith  regeneration.  By  that  same  sign,  ye  can  bear 
witness  to  the  truth  of  his  comparison,  when  he  says 
that  a  dog's  tail  never  wags  with  pleasure  while  his 
voice  gives  utterance  to  a  growl  of  hate  in  the  pres 
ence  of  an  enemy!  But,  of  course,  you  cannot  fully 
appreciate  the  illustration  with  only  faith  in  substitu 
tion  for  the  experienced  materialization  of  our  regen 
erated  tail  functions  derived  from  the  missionary  labors 
of  the  Gibbons!  Yet,  to  be  sure,  ye  know  from  your 
own  experience  that  your  tongue  can  wag  with  words 
of  friendship  while  your  head  is  hard  at  work  for  the 
means  to  injure  their  dupe!  Indade,  how  often  our 
mothers  in  Israel  give  a  kiss  and  a  compliment  of 
fashionable  import,  in  communion,  when  a  scratch 


212  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

would  demonstrate  more  truthfully  their  intention's 
desire. 

11  With  the  loss  of  the  angelic  germ  and  change  of 
base,  he  teaches  that  those  who  devote  themselves  to 
the  thoughtful  use  of  the  head  in  following  the  whim 
sies  begot  under  the  banner  of  tail  faith  rarely  repro 
duce  their  kind  in  multiplication,  but  content  them 
selves  in  giving  birth  to  theories  hatched  from  the  egg 
usage  of  habit  derived  from  hereditary  impression. 
For  the  proof  of  what  he  says  he  refers  to  the  god 
head  amours  of  the  Chinese,  Indian,  Egyptian  and 
Greek  creeds,  which  culminated  in  the  immaculate 
conception  and  birth  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem,  all 
of  which  sufficiently  denote  the  tail  inspiration  of 
faith." 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Shawtinbach,  it's  puzzled  that  I 
am  to  make  out  with  my  Christian  education  the  basis 
upon  which  my  obligations  rest;  there  are  so  many 
distinctions  without  a  difference,  and  so  many  differ 
ences  without  a  distinction.  Bridget  says,  with  truth, 
that  all  the  religions  of  mankind  have  originated  in 
caves  and  stables  in  order  to  convey  the  impression  to 
the  servile  victims  of  their  oppression  an  idea  of  lowly 
and  meek  equality  as  the  source  of  regeneration,  while 
in  fact  the  real  emblem  of  representation  is,  that  the 
laity  are  to  act  as  beasts  of  burden  to  priestcraft,  and 
that  they  are  pendu-queue  in  all  their  tendencies. 
Whereas,  the  primo-genitorial  condition  of  our  first  pa 
rents  as  tail-Hedged  orangs  declares  their  freedom 
from  the  duug-hill  ties  of  earth  which  bespeak  corrup 
tion,  and  a  tail  pinnate  posterior  ordination  designed 
for  heavenly  flight." 

Now,  you  see,  with  all  these  bearings,  the  question 
of  alternative  arose,  whether  it  would  be  better  for  me 
to  remain  here  subject  to  annexation  with  the  patri- 
archess'  tailacy,  or  gratify  my  political  ambition  by 
going  to  the  Cradle  of  Liberty,  where  they  have  tacitly 
acknowledged  the  legitimacyof  my  prima  facie  poster 
iori  evidence  of  regeneration  by  ignoring  the  memorial 
transfer  of  the  Chinese  tail  to  the  head  as  an  evidence 
of  irreclaimable  paganism,  beyond  the  reach  of  the 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  213 

home  missionaries'  prayers  for  the  sanctified  influence 
of  saving  grace  ? 

"  Now  the  short  of  the  matter  is,  as  he  says,  my  Chris 
tian  education,  derived  from  the  halo  of  Saint  Phadrig, 
has  established  habits  of  indulgence  which  have  not 
only  curtailed  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Gibbons, 
but  have  rendered  the  aspirations  of  faith  abortive  for 
the  full  realization  of  the  abounding  efficacy  of  par 
doning  grace  sufficient  for  heavenly  regeneration.  So 
you  see,  that  in  fact  I  have  nothing  to  fall  back  upon 
but  my  political  ambition  and  Catholic  faith  in  mira 
cles  for  the  sanctifying  fructification  of  extreme  unc 
tion.  In  the  event  of  your  union  with  Bridget,  let  me 
hope  that  you  will  jointly  intercede  at  the  throne  of 
grace  that  I  may  enjoy  the  blessings  vouchsafed,  with 
a  new  heart,  constitution,  and  the  privileges  of  a  new 
birth  for  the  Eve-ventful  realization  of  tail  content 
ment  enjoyed  by  our  first  parents  before  their  fall. 

' '  For  which  your  brother  in  expectation,  Patroni- 
mick  Kan  Avail,  will  ever  pray." 

After  the  reading  of  the  letter,  Mr.  Leslie,  in  explana 
tion,  said  that  it  had  "been  customary  for  Doctor  Olu 
Babi  to  assume  the  dictatorial  powers  of  judge-arbi 
trator  for  the  adjustment  and  correction  of  family 
misdemeanors,  as  his  age  placed  him  beyond  the  pre 
judice  of  partial  passion.  If  the  transgression  of 
right  did  not  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  a  family,  the 
correction  was  confined  to  it,  under  the  Doctor's  direc 
tion.  In  all  cases  the  parents  were  held  responsible 
in  degree  for  the  habits  and  acts  of  their  children,  as 
they  are  imparted  and  impressed  by  example.  But 
injuries,  from  whatever  connection  derived,  were  cor 
rected  through  the  influence  of  the  party  or  relatives 
injured.  In  the  case  of  the  Kan  Avans,  the  father 
was  accountable  to  the  son  for  his  education;  and  from 
reflex  action  the  son  on  his  return  was  the  active  agent 
in  obtaining  the  spirits  for  their  mutual  intoxication. 
The  other  children,  as  sufferers  from  their  worse  than 
beastly  example,  were  adjudged  to  act  in  the  capacity 
of  bastiuadors  for  the  counter-irritation  of  their  soles, 
to  arouse  their  brains  from  alcoholic  stupor. 


214  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  The  tableaux  of  judgment  in  execution,  under  the 
doctor's  direction,  to  a  stranger  would  appear  in  the 
light  of  a  serio-comic  transaction;  but  for  the  sober 
unction  of  the  restorative  infliction  and  consequent 
contortionate  expostulations  of  those  subject  to  re 
deeming  attrition.  The  doctor,  when  called  upon  to 
administer  justice  at  theKan  A  van's,  in  restorative  ap 
plication,  was  attended  by  the  senior  Maltese  as  a  sort 
of  cat- Adam,  who  sat  upon  his  shoulder  as  a  juror  to 
witness  the  ordinance  of  vital  regeneration  from  the 
hereditary  sins  of  the  flesh,  transmitted  in  exampled 
effect  from  the  rudderless  passions  derived  from  the 
curtailment  of  our  first  parents.  The  'court-room,' 
where  the  culprits  were  arraigned  upon  couches,  with 
the  soles  of  their  feet  exposed  and  confined  over  a  high 
'  foot- board/  answered  the  purpose  of  a  sitting-room 
for  concert  and  like  entertainments  for  the  family;  but 
instead  of  chairs  the  ceiling  supported  a  circular  series 
of  suspended  trapeze-bars  for  passive-rest  and  hand 
hold  progression.  Upon  these,  in  flight,  the  sisters  of 
Kan  Avail,  in  rotation,  inflicted  upon  the  upraised 
soles  of  son  and  father  strokes  from  a  punctured  leather 
battledoor,  which  were  timed  and  toned  in  strength  by 
the  measure  of  Doctor  Olu's  wand  and  the  sympathetic 
movement  of  the  Maltese  cat's  stub  relic  of  an  here 
ditary  tail.  On  the  first  occasion  of  Pat's  junior  ex 
perience  of  the  revivifying  effect  of  this  novel  process 
of  sole  regeneration,  the  energetic  expression  of  his 
languaged  expostulation  bespoke  in  vocabulary  recita 
tion  the  anathematizing  power  of  words  derived  from 
his  Christian  education,  in  appeal  to  the  presiding  de 
ities  in  rule  over  the  ultimate  departments  designed 
for  the  eternal  recreation  of  the  soils  of  just  men  made 
perfect  and  those  of  the  damned.  But  as  his  vocif 
erations  were  in  appeal  to,  and  in  emanation  from 
his  divinity  and  devil  of  selfishness,  the  wand  of  the 
doctor  expressed,  with  that  of  the  juror,  more  ener 
getic  power,  which  stimulated  sisterly  remonstrance 
for  a  more  decisive  demonstration.  When  his  voice 
had  become  croakingly  hoarse  and  his  soles  nearly 
blistered  from  his  varied  appeals  to  the  superior  and 
nether  deities  of  his  heavenly  and  hellish  realms  of 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        215 

bliss  and  torture,  his  father  expostulated:  'An'  sure, 
Pat,  can't  ye  learn  from  experience  that  the  lashings 
of  yer  tongue  with  your  feet  in  limbo  gie  ye  back  wid 
multiplication  what  you  invok'  ? '  Upon  this  hint 
Pat's  discretion  gained  the  ascendency,  and  his  mother 
was  allowed  to  nurse  his  feet  with  soothing  applica 
tions;  and  after  two  or  three  days'  repentant  medita 
tion,  during  which  he  was  subdued;  while  his  wonder 
ing  admiration  was  excited  by  the  exquisite  harmony 
of  quintette  compositions  that  reached  him  from  the 
music  room.  As  he  knew  that  there  were  but  two 
pianos,  the  varied  reach  and  novel  harmony  of  the 
counter  base,  combined  with  the  marvelous  execution 
and  volume  of  sound  elicited  by  the  peculiar  touch, 
wrought  his  curiosity  to  the  highest  pitch  of  endur 
ance. 

' '  On  the  third  morning  after  he  had  experienced  the 
reactive  ordeal  of  the  domestic  tribunal,  during  the 
absence  of  his  mother,  whose  silence  had  aggravated 
his  curiosity  to  learn  how  the  intricate  style  of  the  com 
position  could  be  wrought  with  the  fingers,  he  essayed 
a  trial  of  his  feet  to  surprise  the  performers.  With 
the  aid  of  two  sticks  he  hobbled  to  the  door  of  the 
music  room,  and  opened  it  softly  that  he  might  not 
startle  the  performers.  You  will  perhaps  be  able  to 
realize  something  of  his  surprise  when  he  discovered 
that  Bridget  was  the  sole  artist,  whose  wonderful  ca 
pacity  had  been  cultivated  for  the  successful  attain 
ment  of  the  highest  perfection  in  the  development  of 
her  natural  and  acquired  ability.  Fortunately  she  was 
seated  with  her  back  to  the  door,  poised  upon  a  music 
stool  between  the  two  pianos,  and  so  absorbed  in  the 
improvisation  of  variations  to  the  oratorio  of  Moses 
in  Egypt  that  his  involuntary  exclamation  did  not  at 
tract  her  attention.  Indeed,  when  he  saw  her  clothed 
in  all  the  personal  attractions  inherent  with  Eve  before 
she  was  tempted  by  the  Serpent's  length  of  tail  to  be 
come  a  goddess  with  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
in  multiplication,  he  became  speechless  with  shame, 
But  gradually,  as  her  quadrumanal  fingers  of  repre 
sentative  hands  and  feet  compassed  in  quartette  the 
score,  with  harmonized  variations  of  her  own  angelic 


216  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

inspiration,  under  the  magic  sway  of  an  entailed  coun 
ter-base  from  the  graceful  touch  of  the  patriarchal  en 
dowment,  which  in  reach  controlled  the  octaves  of  the 
second  piano,  Patronimick  became  entranced.  Jn  this 
mood,  it  was  not  long  before  his  cultivated  perception 
discovered  that  her  tail  subserved  the  purpose  of  a 
director's  baton,  for  the  measure  of  time  and  the  con 
sonance  of  concordic  effect.  The  pain  of  his  own  feet 
and  the  entrance  of  Delilah,  the  active  cause,  from  the 
opposite  door,  at  length  aroused  him  from  his  maze, 
compounded  from  musical  encharmment  and  astonish 
ment.  Giving  voice  to  the  angry  emotions  Delilah's 
presence  revived,  he  exclaimed,  '  Shame  upon  you, 
Bridget;  have  you  no  respect  for  yourself  or  your 
brother's  presence,  that  you  expose  yourself  in  nature's 
toilet,  unadorned  with  the  improvements  that  pro 
gressive  civilization  has  multiplied  since  Eve's  art  de 
vice  in  substitution  for  a  tail  to  conceal  her  chagrin.' 

"To  which  Bridget  quickly  replied:  'And  sure, 
Pat,  is  it  kind  of  you  to  remind  me  that  the  tailacy  is 
not  my  own  altogether,  that  ye  will  not  let  me  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  its  heat  enly  capacity  for  angelic  cultiva 
tion?' 

"  The  extreme  emotions  of  tears  and  laughter  and 
kindred  ebullitions  of  passion  engendered  from  lustful 
transgression  had  probably  never  been  experienced 
while  our  first  parents  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
original  tailful  source  of  contentment,  for  even  the 
ape  and  baboon,  with  their  curtailed  powers  of  imita 
tion,  are  unable  to  approach  nearer  than  a  grimace 
for  their  expression.  Although  allied  in  educated 
habits  to  the  long-tailed  Gibbons,  in  addition  to  the 
Kubu  germ-tail  endowment — derived  from  their  mis 
sionary  labors  in  the  extension  of  the  os  coccygeal 
proviso — the  Kan  Avans  and  kind  were  in  like  manner 
incapacitated  for  more  than  a  grimaced  expression  of 
tearful  and  mirthful  moods.  The  first  of  these  Bridget 
expressed  in  expostulation  while  she  played  a  quintette 
dirge  with  variations  in  E  minor.  The  touch  of  the 
tail,  in  the  execution  of  its  part,  moved  so  sadly  with 
the  inspiration  of  harmonized  cadence,  that  Pat,  with 
all  his  Christian  fortitude  in  array  to  suppress  his  emo- 


M.    SHAWTTNBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  217 

tions,  whimpered  outright,  but  ashamed  of   his  weak 
ness  turned  and  hobbled  back  to  his  couch. 

"  This  conference  revival  of  the  spirit  of  saving 
grace  imparted  from  the  influence  of  a  new  birth  re 
generation  from  patriarchal  ingraft,  caused  Pat  to  re 
flect  upon  its  simple  sufficiency  in  the  extent  of  origi 
nal  endowment  before  Eve-viction.  As  if  mindful  of 
his  thought  meditation,  Bridget  by  a  series  of  millin 
ery  tailipulations  showed  the  capacity  of  her  caudal 
endowment  to  clothe  and  adorn  her  person  with  all 
the  raiment  requirements  of  modesty,  without  tantal 
izing  expectation  with  partial  exposure  in  hopeful  an 
ticipation  of  a  more  perfect  heavenly  revelation.  De 
lilah,  who  had  observed  Pat's  emotion,  and  the  cause, 
besought  Bridget  to  improve  the  opportunity  to  make 
his  calling  and  election  sure  before  he  had  sinned  away 
the  day  of  grace.  Giving  heed  to  her  exhortation, 
Bridget  played  with  the  unction  of  a  'divine's'  inspira 
tion: 

"  '  Come  all  ye  weary,  heavy  laden  sinners,  coine, 
And  I  will  give  you  rest  from  all  your  woes.' 

"With  this  prelude  she  entered  Pat's  room  from  a 
door  fronting  his  couch,  in  an  attitude  which  exposed 
at  a  glance  the  comprehensive  simplicity  of  the  original 
endowment  as  a  contentful  source  of  sufficiency  for  an 
abiding  hope  of  full-fledged  exaltation  in  angelic  flight. 
The  effect  fully  realized  her  expectations;  for  Pat  ex 
claimed,  with  the  instinctive  enthusiasm  of  an  inspired 
convert,  '  An  sure,  Bridget,  if  they  could  only  see  and 
hear  your  capacity  for  modest  deportment  and  literary 
accomplishments,  the  nobility  and  learned  of  every 
land  could  not  fail  to  acknowledge  the  blest  sufficiency 
of  Adam  for  the  contentment  of  Eve  before  her  fall 
brought  the  sin  of  multiplication  into  the  world  and 
all  our  woes.  Arrah,  how  great  a  worriment  would 
have  been  saved  in  millinery  material  and  dressmaking 
if  Eve's  curiosity  had  been  satisfied  with  enough,  with 
out  wishing  for  more,  from  the  temptation  of  the  Ser 
pent's  tail  and  tongue  talk  as  the  god-like  beginning 
and  end  of  fashion  and  hypocrisy  inaugurated  by  the 

10 


218  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

father  of  lies!     By  that  same  token,  in  poetical  expres 
sion,  ye  might  say  with  truth — 

'"Of  food  and  raiment  they  had  enough,  and  more 

Than  their  wants  required;  and  for  fashion's  sake, 
To  shrive,  and  eke  out  the  line  of  beauty's  score, 
A  tail,  when  fledged,  to  guide  in  angelic  wake.' 

" '  Yea,  verily,  in  the  language  of  the  Psalmist,  it  is 
plain  to  be  seen,  that  when  bereft  of  the  tail,  modesty 
required  Eve  to  assume  an  upright  walk,  which  was  n 
longer  suitable  for  tree  subsistence;  hence  her  fall 
from  fruit  dependency  to  the  curse  of  labor  multipli 
cation,  which  in  train  gave  birth  to  want  and  mechani 
cal  invention  to  supply  our  hereditary  craving  for 
more  than  enough.' 

"  To  this  exordium  of  her  brother,  Bridget  replied 
in  exhortation.  '  Ah,  Pat  darling,  if  ye  could  but 
realize  the  truth  of  what  ye  speak  you  would  cultivate 
with  extreme  unction  for  renewed  grace  the  neglected 
talent  revived  from  the  altar  of  the  os  sacrum  by  the 
missionary  labors  of  your  god-fathers.  Why  can  ye 
not  take  your  own  experience  as  a  guide,  and  base 
your  faith  upon  their  labors  for  a  hopeful  regenera 
tion  ?  Surely,  ye  must  feel  that  ye  have  been  blest 
above  your  father's  generation  in  possessing  the  ma 
terial  evidence  of  renewed  grace.  An'  if  ye  will  but 
cultivate  with  a  meek  and  lowly  spirit  the  gift  of  grace, 
it  will  in  the  end  work  out  your  own  salvation.  For 
mind  ye,  Pat,  do  ye  not  see  from  the  memorial  changes 
of  fashion  in  dresses  that  your  people  have  no  abiding 
faith  in  the  sufficiency  of  the  ordinance  rites  of  artifi 
cial  tail  grace  for  atonement  ?  An'  how  could  ye  look 
upon  your  women's  bedraggled  dress  ordinances  of 
tail  grace,  that  adds  dust  to  their  bodies  for  an  in 
crease  of  soil  from  loathsome'  sources  of  corruption, 
without  feeling  the  cleanly  aspirations  of  your  germ- 
angelic  endowment  ?  Or  have  ye  no  memory  of  shame 
for  your  condition  when  your  four  hands  and  your 
father's  were  turned  to  feet,  and  you  groveled  on  all 
fours  in  likeness  to  beasts,  whose  flesh  our  mothers' 
ancestors  thought  it  cannibal  taste  to  eat?  If  you 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  219 

think  and  speak  the  truth,  do  you  not  feel  in  the 
creaking  stiffness,  which  ye  call  rheumatism,  that  from 
your  habits  your  hands  and  feet  are  turning  to  hoofs, 
and  that  the  posterity  of  your  likes  will  assume  their 
condition  ?  Ah,  Pat,  if  ye  would  but  learn  the  truth 
from  experience,  you  would  realize  from  your  senses 
that  your  stomach  is  in  doubt  of  the  grade  of  instinct 
to  which  it  belongs.  Can  ye  not  see  from  the  delirium 
tremens  of  your  drunkards,  which  multiplies  the  Ser 
pent's  progeny,  that  he  was  the  father  of  indulgence, 
the  source  of  lies;  and  that  from  the  limits  of  sim 
plicity  reduced  to  enough  the  source  of  contentment 
is  derived  ?' 

"To  Bridget's  expostulation,  Pat  replied;  'Then 
sister,  why  was  ye  not  content  with  your  Kubu  tail, 
without  longing  for  more,  like  mother  Eve?  Is  it  con 
sistent  to  reprove  me  for  my  ambition  when  ye  were 
not  content  to  eke  out  with  faith  your  own  Kubu  en 
dowment?' 

"Gently  entwining  Pat's  wrist,  with  prehensile 
caudiality,  she  urged:  'Can  ye  not  see  that  in  my  long 
ings  there  was  a  difference  with  a  distinction  from  mul 
tiplication?  My  Kubu  endowment  was  but  a  faith  in 
dex  for  perfect  regeneration,  sufficient  for  contentment; 
but  yours,  from  habit  education  in  Christian  doctrine, 
disposes  you  to  seek  present  gratification  from  the  mul 
tiplication  of  artificial  wants  in  the  extension  of  tail 
influence;  as  your  preachers  and  politicians  urge,  in 
the  sytle  of  their  great  exemplar;  who  said,  "Place 
your  faith  in  me  and  ye  shall  become  as  gods,  with  a 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil  derived  from  experience !  " 
Still,  with  experience  that  shows  you  the  fallacy  of  pre 
cept  preaching  and  teaching,  as  in  the  first  instance, 
you  seek  to  repair  old  transgressions  by  new  evasions 
proposed  by  your  leaders,  who  assume  the  collective 
functions  for  their  congregations'  tail  dispensations. 
Have  ye  bethought  yourself,  Pat  dear,  that  with  all 
your  superior  qualification  as  a  Eudder  leader  of  high 
aspirations  for  congregational  representation,  you  are 
in  fact  ashamed  to  show  in  Christian  society  that  you 
possess  the  present  evidence  of  renewed  grace  ?  Also 
in  fact,  from  your  neglect  of  its  regenerating  influence 


220  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

hope  has  lost  its  savior  and  faith  its  reinvigorating 
power  of  redemption  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  the 
devil?  With  your  wallowings  in  filthy  indulgence, 
have  ye  no  fear  of  committing  the  unpardonable  sin 
that  in  the  end  will  cause  your  tail  to  rise  up  in  judg 
ment  against  you  ?  Already  with  your  backslidings  and 
artificial  tail  absolutions  it  is  bowed  down  with  shame 
by  the  rule  of  fashion,  so  that  your  women  have  no  dis 
cretion  to  determine  the  limits  of  enough  that  will 
suffice  for  their  comfort  and  healthy  concealment  from 
immodest  exposure.  Now,  dear  Pat,  brother,  why  will 
ye  not  cultivate,  with  a  meek  and  lowly  spirit  of  regen 
eration,  for  the  revival  of  your  Kubu  endowment,  the 
love  of  the  patriarchess,  so  that  out  of  her  abounding 
grace  she  may  pledge  you  its  fealty,  as  I  have  mine  for 
heavenly  record  with  M.  Shawtinbach  in  the  inspired 
language  of  Buth,  "Thy  God  shall  be  my  God,  and 
iny  tail  thy  tail,  yea, verily,  even  unto  the  end  thereof/' 
Then  as  one  of  the  elect  you  can  truly  exclaim,  "I 
know  that  my  Kedeemer  liveth.3 '' 

"  With  this  peroration  to  her  exhortation,  Bridget, 
with  a  benignant  expression  of  contentful  love,  had  re 
course  to  her  pianos,  and  caused  them  in  quintette 
union  to  harmonize  in  genial  outflow  the  record  of  her 
languaged  effort  with  the  inspired  poetical  legend : 

"  '  Oh,  how  happy  are  they 
"Whom  the  Saviour  obey! 
Tongue  can  never  express 
The  sweet  comfort  in  dress; 
In  faith,  freedom  from  shame, 
That  Eve  lost  with  her  fame; 
For  tail  augelic  grace, 
That  gave  birth  to  our  race.' 

"After  her  extraordinary  exhortation  and  word  ac 
companiment  in  song,  Bridget  relapsed  into  her  taci 
turn  mood  of  contentful  contemplation,  which  led  her 
with  the  genial  sympathy  of  loving  predilection  to  pay 
you  a  visit  of  courtship.  This  visit  proved  to  you  a 
source  of  wondering  admiration,  in  view  of  the  abound 
ing  grace  she  exhibited  in  tail  manifestations  of  capac 
ity  lor  clothing  the  inspired  sources  of  sacred  attrac 
tion  for  the  yearning  desire  of  imagination  in  free- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  221 

dom  from  the  repulsive  realization  of  truthful  disclos 
ure.  Although  tantalizing  from  the  tree^tage  selected 
for  her  model  exhibition  of  dramatic  effects,  she  en 
tertained  you  in  an  ecstatic  mood  of  enthusiastic  ex 
pectation  of  angelic  confirmation  until  you  were  awak 
ened  from  your  trance  of  transfiguration  to  be  re- 
assoilized  with  food  for  the  revival  of  mortality.  I  will 
now  leave  you  to  your  meditations  with  the  conviction 
that  you  will  realize  the  necessity  of  condensing 
thought  for  word  expression,  so  that  memory  will  not 
be  overtaxed  with  repetition." 


DIABETIC. 

It  is  very  strange  and  a  sore  puzzle  to  my  under 
standing  to  comprehend  how  our  race,  since  Eve-vic- 
tion,  have  been  able  to  evade  the  simple  impressions 
of  truthful  fact  which  so  clearly  testify  to  the  abso 
lute  necessity  of  a  tail  for  the  angelic  consummation 
of  happy  contentment !  Especially  as  all  our  histori 
cal  and  traditional  records,  as  well  as  transmitted 
habits  and  customs,  distinctly  reveal  the  attractive 
tendency  of  thought  to  do  reverence  with  symbolic 
ordinances  to  the  seat  of  honor  sacred  to  the  memory 
of  the  tail's  enthronement.  Although  at  first  greatly 
shocked  with  the  marked  preference  manifested  by  the 
residents  of  Saar  Soong  for  the  germ-orang  converts 
of  the  Gibbons,  I  was  soon  able  to  divest  myself  of  the 
prejudice  from  the  workings  of  the  holy  spirit  of  re 
generation,  which  made  me  feel  the  necessity  of  a  new 
birth  affinity.  Notwithstanding  the  alaimed  despond 
ency  of  Father  Odorat  and  Rev.  Mr.  Rantkin  from  the 
first  advent  of  tail  impressions,  I  could  not  fail  to  ob 
serve  in  their  motions  and  tendencies  a  special  adapta 
tion  of  means  to  ends  for  the  scriptural  fulfillment  of 
material  and  doctrinal  multiplication.  Neither  could 
I  fail  to  recognize  in  my  own  emotions  in  the  first  and 
my  after  interviews  with  the  abounding  grace  of  Bridget 
the  Holy  Ghost  revival  of  Adam's  source  of  content 
ment  before  the  Serpent's  preaching  beguilement  of 


222  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

tongue  and  tail  caused  his  Eve-viction  from  the  garden 
of  Eden,  fore-ordained  for  his  sole  possession.  Indeed, 
I  should  be  sadly  lacking  in  the  essentials  of  grateful 
love  if  I  should  fail  to  record  my  just  appreciation  of 
the  preference  she  has  shown  for  me,  notwithstanding 
her  knowledge  of  my  hereditary  deficiency  for  the  real 
ization  of  an  equality  for  caudal  reciprocation.  Still 
my  perverse  disposition  at  times  harbors  the  selfish 
question,  whether  my  sensitive  ambition  will  yield  to 
or  overcome  the  constancy  of  a  love  so  repugnant  in 
thought  to  all  my  preconceived  ideas  of  the  specie  dis 
tinctions  of  humanity  from  the  orang  race  ?  To  be 
sure  there  is  no  direct  alliance  of  blood;  but  habit 
conformity  in  associate  familiarity  from  the  period  of 
infancy  has  created  a  resemblance  that  would  defy  the 
closest  investigation  to  detect  her  relationship  with 
the  Caucasian  race,  even  in  freedom  from  the  silky 
perfection  of  her  "  native"  costume  and  caudal  acqui 
sition.  But  there  is  about  her  an  investing  halo  that 
by  far  exceeds  in  attraction  the  highest  elements  of 
beauty  that  enter  into  the  form  and  feature  composi 
tion  of  the  modern  civilized  belle.  The  sinewy  expres 
sion  of  her  body,  direct  action  of  her  limbs,  and  lack 
of  rounded  contour  in  the  parts  adjacent  to  the  seat  of 
sacred  investment  would  in  description  possess  but 
little  attraction  for  the  worshipful  votaries  of  the  Me- 
dicean  Venus.  But  when  in  motion  there  was  an  elas 
ticity  of  action  that  brought  into  play  all  the  latent 
aerial  susceptibilities  of  her  nature,  which  in  hand- 
reach  from  limb  to  limb  displayed  a  volatile  move 
ment  that  inspired  the  nether  extremities  with  a  spirit 
afflation  in  angelic  contrast  to  the  still  beauty  of  her 
purest  earthborn  cousins  of  the  urirenewed  type. 

In  tree  flight,  or  branch  repose,  with  her  acquired 
caudal  expression  in  view,  she  imparted  to  my  partial 
vision  the  animus  forecast  of  angelic  realization.  But 
when  her  person  presented  (in  Spenserian  language)  a 
"  differential "  display  of  her  charms,  with  the  azure 
rays  of  her  eyes  in  concentrated  gaze  fixed  on  me, 
they  seemed  to  breathe  an  afflatus  ecstasy  of  inspired 
revelation,  that  in  anticipation  vitalized  my  soil  with 
the  beatific  joys  of  a  united  destiny  in  the  heavenly 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  223 

realms  of  the  "just  made  perfect."  Notwithstanding 
her  unique  style  of  expression,  there  was  in  her  fea 
tures  a  blending  of  thoughtful  expectation  which  in 
tremulous  delight  made  thought  transparent: 

In  freedom  from  the  tongue's  incessant  clatter, 

Of  ruling  power  in  mind  and  matter  ; 

Which  reason's  source,  and  god-like  sense  defies, 

Yet,  with  all  these  perceptible  traits  of  a  new  birth 
right,  born  for  the  silent  expression  of  an  unostenta 
tious  source  of  contentment,  I  am  aware  that  in  the 
busy  marts  of  the  world,  where  the  invention  of  wants 
for  want  supply  holds  ruling  sway,  these  constituents 
in  the  simple  economy  of  tail  sufficiency  for  the  mod 
est  development  of  thought,  will  be  scouted  as  a  sign 
of  retrogression.  But  our  retrospective  reflections  for 
contentful  imitation,  antedate  the  sinful  cause  of 
curse  multiplication  of  habits  and  customs  derived 
from  sectarian  selfishness.  Could  the  votaries  who 
bow  down  in  faith-worship  at  the  shrine  of  tithe-re 
deeming  lucre,  enjoy  my  privileges,  they  would  soon 
discover  the  marvelous  efficacy  of  tail  interposition, 
with  works  for  the  revival  of  contentment,  and 

The  cause  of  Eve's  first  departure  from  bliss, 
In  Adam's  subjection  from  Serpent  kiss, 
And  backsliding  of  worship's  beguilement, 
The  world's  source  of  progeuic  defilement. 

Before  I  arrived  at  Leslie  Holm,  and  saw  the  won 
derful  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  for  Bridget's  re 
generation,  I  had  but  a  slight  conception  of  woman's 
rights  inaugurated  by  transgression.  But  now,  the 
light  afforded  by  the  "new  departure/'  inaugurated  at 
Saar  Soong.  with  the  missionary  revival  in  material 
extension  of  the  source  of  contentment,  I  can  realize 
the  controlling  habit  impression,  that  ekes  out  with 
artificial  means,  dress  ordinances  for  the  exemplifica 
tion  of  knowledge  that  refuses  to  profit  by  experience. 

It  is  but  natural  to  suppose,  from  the  evidence  of 
recorded  example,  that  woes  beget  woes  from  the  effect 
of  progenic  impression  increased  by  the  motor  force 


224  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

of  progressive  multiplication.  Hence  the  realization 
of  the  prophetic  curse  that  gave  birth  to  faith  and  hope 
for  the  fulfillment  of  ordinance  worship  in  substitution 
for  affection  from  the  profit  increase  of  experience . 


CONCLUSIVE  CHATA   OF  DOCTOR  OLF  BABI. 

"In  order  that  my  general  remarks  may  be  reduced 
for  special  adaptation  to  the  meanest  capacity,  I  will 
present  a  synoptical  (sin -optical)  review  of  the  back 
sliding  tendencies  inaugurated  by  Eve — under  the 
curse  of  multiplication-  -for  her  transgression  beyond 
the  limits  devised  for  the  realization  of  enough.  As 
the  Mosaic  record,  of  the  'God  of  Israel/  establishes  the 
fact,  by  induction,  that  Adam  was  created  from  the 
soil  (dust  of  the  earth,)  and  was  ordained  to  receive 
his  sustenance  from  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  gar 
den  of  Eden;  we  must  reasonably  suppose  that  he  was 
eminently  endowed  with  all  the  personal  adjuncts  re 
quired  for  the  gathering  them  from  the  trees.  This 
fact  presupposes  the  possession  of  a  prehensile  tail. 
Now  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  almost  tropical 
situation  described  as  the  location  of  the  garden  of 
Eden,  the  Oriental  version  which  describes  the  cocoa 
palm  as  the  proscribed  tree,  is  rendered  certain,  from 
the  known  demoralizing  effect  of  the  toddy  arrack 
drawn  from  the  clustering  fruit  stems,  and  the  almost 
insurmountable  difficulty  that  would  prevent  the  orang 
Adam,  and  the  wo-rang  Eve,  from  ascending  the  mon 
arch  trunk  with  the  limited  grasp  of  their  prenensile 
tails.  This  incapacity  interposed,  with  seeming  inten 
tion,  undoubtedly  aggravated  the  curiosity  of  the  wo- 
rang;  and  prepared  her  covetous  desire  to  appreciate, 
with  worshipful  envy,  the  beautiful  adaptation  of  the 
union  of  the  Serpent's  tail  and  head  for  making  the 
ascent.  In  her  longing  mood,  it  is  easy  to  conceive 
how  readily  she  was  prepared  by  his  wiles  for  the  shrift 
of  temptation  which  he  proffered  with  the  toddy  lure. 
With  its  test  upon  Adam — under  the  first  exhilarating 
effects — we  can  imagine  that  her  tail  faith  was  fully  en- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  225 

listed  in  the  belief  of  its  god-like  efficacy  for  the  devel 
opment  of  their  creative  powers.  But,  alas!  how  fatal 
ly  was  she  undeceived,  with  her  experience  of  the  effects 
derived,  from  the  means  used  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil !  From  the  present  sum  of  the  multiplied 
knowledge  of  our  race,  in  test  of  the  deadly  effects  of 
toddy,  is  it  a  wonder  that  her  fall  from  the  contentful 
purity  of  first  intention  involved  the  tail  germ  de 
signed  for  angelic  flight  ? — or  that  shame  was  aroused 
at  her  bereavement,  that  announced  with  her  naked 
ness  a  sinful  birth,  which  condemned  her,  with  the 
curse  of  multiplication,  to  have  recourse  to  the  ordi 
nance  rites  of  faith,  in  art,  for  the  fulfillment  of  the 
preaching  promise  of  the  old  Serpent. 

With  our  knowledge  of  the  indigestive  effect  of 
toddy,  we  can  readily  conceive  that  her  indulgence 
provoked  the  stomach's  arsenal  for  the  generation  of 
detonating  gases  which  startle  and  impress  upon  the 
embryo  instincts  of  the  child  unborn,  a  passion  for 
polemical  preaching  discussions,  and  the  noisy  dis 
plays  of  pat-riot-ism.  With  the  tail  as  the  prehensile 
hold  for  the  balance  of  the  "souls"  (stomach's)  diges 
tive  equality,  for  the  healthy  dispensation  of  food,  we 
can  plainly  understand  that  regurgitation  would  be 
the  effect  of  over-indulgence  without  the  nauseating 
throes  that  now  attend  the  germ-manic  process  of  vom 
iting.  The  effect  of  the  temptation's  multiplication  is 
so  prominently  visible  in  the  process  of  gestation — 
that  imparts  to  the  child  the  morbid  impressions  of  the 
mother — that  the  most  casual  observation  will  serve  to 
fully  convince  the  most  sceptical  of  the  characteristic 
nature  and  source  of  the  prime-Eve-al  curse. 

"  We  will  now  review  the  progressively  developed  and 
retained  habits  and  customs  of  the  germ-manic  species  in 
the  process  of  transmission. 

"  Having,  with  legitimate  deduction  and  direct 
proof,  shown  ths  fundamental  source  of  pat-riot-ism, 
we  will  note  some  of  the  leading  impressions  of  relig 
ious  communism  sanctified  with  the  ordinance  rites  of 
worship  instituted  by  the  old  Serpent  for  tail  regener- 
10* 


226  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPEBIENCE  OF 

ation.  The  Israelites,  laboring  under  the  impression 
that  the  felo-de-se  sacrifice  caused  by  the  longing  de 
sire  of  mother  Eve,  was  attributed  to  the  power  of  the 
Serpent  to  destroy,  they,  in  act,  expressed  a  worshipful 
faith  in  his  recreative  ability  when  they  exalted  the  bra 
zen  serpent  and  golden  calf  for  the  adoration  of  the 
congregational  tails  of  priestcraft. 

"  The  legends  transmitted  from  the  devotional  idol 
atry  of  the  Israelites  have  been  perpetuated  by  memo 
rial  statues  raised  to  generals,  and  like  destructive  hu 
man  agencies,  in  fulfillment  of  prototype  example. 
That  of  the  golden  calf,  in  kind,  has  been  transmitted 
in  word  expression  for  the  genealogical  emblazonry  of 
escutcheons  and  coins,  which  should  read,  '  In  this 
God  we  trust.'  The  evidences  of  a  universal  belief  in 
the  necessity  of  tail  regeneration  show  in  the  exces 
sive  preponderance  of  fashionable  female  devotees;  a 
manifest  acknowledgment  of  the  wo-rang  Eve's  culpa 
ble  accountability  for  its  primogenital  loss,  and  the 
solace  of  happy  contentment  which  it  afforded  as  a 
source  of  contemplation  for  the  higher  functions  of 
angelic  flight. 

"  If  we  are  accounted  wonderfully  and  fearfully 
made  without  it,  how  surpassingly  greater  must  be  our 
surprise  and  admiration  when  we  consider  the  com 
plete  simplicity  of  its  adjustment  for  the  perfect  at 
tainment  of  modest  contentment.  An  approximate 
idea  of  its  economic  value  can  be  realized  by  the  hus 
band  and  father  when  they  compare  the  multiplied  re 
sources  which  have  been  conjured  into  existence  by  art 
invention  to  supply  its  place.  While  it,  with  its  hir 
sute  adjunct,  realized  a  sufficiency  for  modest  content 
ment,  the  insatiate  desire  of  woman  still  craved  for 
more;  and  notwithstanding  experience  had  afforded 
constant  proof  of  the  insufficiency  of  artificial  suc- 
cedaneums  for  the  realization  of  enough  for  comely 
protection  and  adornment;  the  fibres  of  the  dress  fig- 
leaves  of  the  original  wo-rang  have  been  multiplied 
with  the  curse  of  arithmetical  progression,  until  the 
millions  of  '  power '  looms  scarcely  suffice  for  the  bur 
densome  requirements  of  mankind.  Still,  the  skins 
of  beasts,  in  sympathetic  verification  of  their  own  self- 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        227 

producing  staple  of  clothing,  hold  the  preference,  in 
their  natural  state,  as  derived  from  the  seal,  sable  and 
beaver;  but  with  the  loss  of  the  mutual  expression  of 
equality  that  defined  the  limits  of  enough,  in  adapta 
tion  to  the  requirements  of  their  original  state.  From 
this  suggestive  review  of  dress  from  the  primitive  con 
ception  of  the  wo-rang,  as  she  emerged  into  the  per 
ceptive  shame  of  wo-manhood;  we  will  now  glance  at 
the  original  cause  of  the  transition  which  gave  cause 
for  the  first  court  scene  and  legal  arraignment  of  cul 
prits.  As  a  guarantee  of  its  being  the  unit  commence 
ment  of  legal  multiplication,  we  find  it  recorded  that 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel  acted  in  the  capacity  of  judge, 
bailiff,  and  prosecuting  attorney,  for  the  first  citation 
arrest  of  thieves.  Of  the  justice  of  the  sentence 
passed  upon  them,  from  their  own  admissions,  which 
in  pleading  extenuation  led  to  triad  recrimination, 
would  be  classed  as  the  petty  larceny  of  an  apple,  to 
which  your  children  of  the  present  progressive  age, 
would,  with  the  advice  of  counsel,  enter  a  demurrer, 
with  the  plea  that  the  severity  of  the  punishment  was 
altogether  incompatible  with  the  nature  of  the  crime. 
"But  if  they  will  only  use  their  head  endowment  of 
discretion,  they  cannot  fail  to  discover  the  wisdom  of 
intention  in  the  curtail.  For  if  tail,  feet,  and  hands, 
had  been  allowed  to  retain  their  original  powers  of 
prehension,  after  the  first  transgression,  the  head  as 
sumption  of  direction,  from  the  wo-rang  Eve's  exhibi 
tion  of  her  thieving  propensity,  in  the  Arab  style 
of  reciprocation,  multiplied  by  civilized  progression, 
would  have  reached  the  millennium  ultimatum  of 
sectarianism,  from  the  full  conversion  of  the  human 
population  into  a  legal  fraternity.  Notwithstanding, 
the  Scotch  dialect  would  imply  that  there  is  no  direct 
and  certain  root  to  orthography,  we  will  urge  upon 
your  perception  the  sectarian  perversion  of  intelligent 
words  for  the  expression  of  material  relation,  into 
meaningless  subterfuges  for  the  advancement  of  faith 
in  tail  direction  by  priestcraft.  You  will  find  that 
the  thirtieth  verse  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Proverbs  de 
clares,  with  the  decisive  authority  of  the  period, 
'  Men  do  not  despise  a  thief  if  he  steal  to  satisfy  his 


228  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

soul  when  he  is  hungry/  This  rendering  of  '  soul ' 
shows  that  it  was  the  accepted  cognomen  of  the  stom 
ach,  which  is  the  germative  garden  of  the  human  sys 
tem  for  soil  assimilation  and  organic  support.  With 
this  exact  interpretation  you  will  be  able  to  understand 
the  Biblical  passage  which  asks,  «  What  shall  it  profit 
a  man  if  he  gains  the  whole  world  and  loses  his  own 
stomach?'  (soul). 

"  In  modern  derivative  use  we  have  the  hackneyed 
banqueting  expression,  'Feast  of  reason  and  flow  of 
soul.'  (bile).  Virtue  and  morality  are  in  like  manner 
theo-r^-ical  root  expressions,  which  in  faith  revival 
undoubtedly  referred  to  the  attributes  of  contentment, 
rating  the  value  of  enough,  before  the  loss  of  caudality 
subjected  the  wo-rang  descendants  to  circumcision 
and  artificial  ordinance  rites  for  the  shadowy  revival  of 
the  original  impression  of  reality. 

"In  more  obvious  travesty,  we  have  the  conversion 
of  litter-ary  multiplication,  pronounced  as  a  curse  for 
disobedience,  reduced  by  the  syncope  of  an  '1,  so  that 
it  is  made  to  express  the  fecundity  of  an  author's  pen, 
without  distinction  of  merit  in  the  characteristic  value 
of  production.  Thus,  in  fact,  resolving  it,  in  train,  to 
the  sequent  result  of  the  curse,  consequent  on  the  Eve- 
viction,  that  has  produced  in  litter-ary  deterioration 
the  race  degradations  of  the  human  species.  From 
the  use  of  deductive  proof  we  can  fix  the  date  of  Eve's 
transgression  to  the  period  of  her  gestation  with  Cain; 
for  we  have  the  recorded  evidence,  that  the  mothers 
of  Alexander,  Csesar,  Churn  Foo,  Bonaparte,  and 
others  of  the  heroic  school  of  wholesale  murderers, 
suffered  from  the  cravings  and  gratification  of  mon 
strous  appetites  just  anterior  to  the  birth  of  those  and 
kindred  valorous  prodigies.  Doctor  Slim  of  your  S. 
F.  Academy  of  Sciences,  ably  proved  in  his  paper;  '  On 
Matters  and  Thing?  in  General/  that  puning  often  de 
veloped  the  derivative  root  of  words,  habits,  and  cus 
toms,  as  well  as  idio-syn-crasies  peculiar  to  the  mother 
during  the  process  of  procreation.  Would  it  not  be 
legitimate  for  your  society,  acting  upon  his  hint,  to  in 
vestigate  theo-re/!-ically  the  ingesta  cause  of  the  moth 
er's  flatulency,  that  gave  birth  to  impressions  that  pro- 


.RSIT 
M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  229 

duced  the  idio-syn-crasies  of  a  Nero,  Calvin,  Catherine 
Medicis,  Henry  VIII,  and  Philip  II,  for  the  future 
reformation  of  the  matrix-generators  of  the  multiplied 
Cain  species?  By  adopting  that  process  of  ante- birth 
investigation,  much  conjectural  knowledge  could  be 
gained  of  the  word  and  fact  transitions  that  produced 
tales  from  tails,  for  the  correction  of  litter-ary  flatulen 
cy  from  its  tendency  to  the  curse  of  litter-ary  multipli 
cation.  As  a  suggestive  nucleus;  is  it  a  wonder  that 
with  the  spirituous  inventive  aggravations,  from  the 
sun's  arrack  distillation  of  Eve's  toddy,  that  the  multi 
plication  of  cause  for  flatulency  should  have  begot  gun 
powder,  nitro-glycerine and  like  dispositions? — or  that 
England's  queen  should  have  offered  a  premium  for 
triplets  to  increase  the  source  of  poverty  for  the  sup 
ply  of  war  material  ? 

"  The  medical  and  scientific  representatives  of  civil 
ized  progression  have  neglected,  unaccountably,  the 
investigation  of  mother  Eve's  idio-syn-crasy,  notwith 
standing  the  evident  cause  which  has  multiplied  the 
curse  in  reproduction.  Even  speech,  from  its  preach 
ing  inauguration  by  the  old  Serpent,  '  the  father  of 
lies,'  has  become  so  degenerated,  that  in  use  with  your 
citizens,  it  sounds  more  like  the  defecation  of  word 
eructations  than  the  medium  means  for  intelligent  and 
refined  communication.  Indeed,  as  the  source  of  our 
common  disaster,  the  stomach  soul's  healthful  economy 
has  been  too  long  overlooked.  When  we  reflect  upon 
the  present  condition  of  our  race,  we  cannot  fail  to 
appreciate  the  redeeming  sacrifice  of  the  patriarch  of 
the  Gibbons,  made  in  behalf  of  Bridget's  posterity, 
which  we  hope  will  be  sanctified  in  the  end  with  a 
Me-sire  for  the  salvation  of  their  race  from  backsliding 
and  the  sins  of  over-indulgence.  If,  as  we  anticipate, 
her  love  for  M.  Shawtinbach  should  meet  with  recip 
rocation,  in  full  fruition,  we  may  hope  that  the  patri 
archal  sacrifice  will  influence  her  to  limit  her  desires 
within  the  bounds  of  her  husband's  capacity  for  grat 
ification. 

"  If  this  should  be  fulfilled,  we  shall  expect  that  he 
will  become  the  father  of  a  race  of  exemplars,  capable 
of  demonstrating  for  theological  and  scientific  com- 


230  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPEEIENCE  OF 

prehension,  the  necessity  of  commencing  with  the 
mother  the  soul  (stomach)  education  of  the  child  be 
fore  birth;  that  after,  the  end  where  the  tail  left  off 
may  be  held  sacred  from  the  spanking  inflictions  of 
Eve  for  the  upright  walk  of  Cain.  Then  soul,  for  soil 
transubstantiation,  will  no  longer  be  perverted  to  ex 
press  the  body's  resurrection,  or  rehabilitation,  and  an 
impossible  tailless  flight  to  the  heavenly  realms  of  a 
golden  New  Jerusalem;  or  nether  place  'below,'  used 
for  brimstone  renovation,  in  accordance  with  the  Jew 
ish  creed  for  the  revival  of  old  do'  from  the  sins  of 
the  flesh,  in  regenerated  preparation  for  the  shoddy 
wear  of  like  purified  bodies  to  become  angels  of  light 
during  the  eternity  of  a  'season.' 

But,  under  the  auspices  of  a  mother's  soul  purified 
for  a  new  birth  of  affection  in.  exampled  impression 
upon  the  embryo  in  probation  to  become  a  child  of 
light,  they  will  be  born  to  the  unselfish  knowledge  that 
they  are  but  a  free-will  fraction  of  a  created  whole, 
with  the  power  of  happiness  limited  in  expression 
solely  by  the  desire  to  confer  upon  associate  units  the 
compounded  influence  of  their  own  resources  of  en 
joyment.  If  this  happy  state  of  a  mother's  special 
vocation  could  be  realized  in  the  union  of  Bridget 
with  M.  Shawtinbach,  the  "new  birth"  impression 
would  re-establish,  with  the  practical  economy  of  tail 
faith,  the  original  standard  of  enough  devised  for  hap 
py  contentment  in  freedom  from  the  covetous  desire 
of  Eve,  which  envied  the  bodiless  union  of  the  old 
Serpent's  head  and  tail. 

' '  If  the  neuter  relation  had  continued  between  the 
orang  and  wo-rang  we  can  readily  realize  that  the 
Bible's  record  of  prophetic  folly  would  never  have 
been  written;  judging  from  the  presumed  fact  that 
contentment  would  afford  a  grateful  present  void  of 
regrets  and  longings  for  an  improved  future.  That 
the  condition  was  compatible  with  creative  intention, 
the  transgression  of  stipulated  requirements  attests; 
the  whys  and  wherefores  of  the  free  agency  for  the 
commission  of  evil  under  interdiction  we  have  no  right 
to  question. 

11  It  is  enough  to  know  that  the  curse  of  multiplication 


M.    SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.  231 

has  been  prophetically  recorded  by  the  Chinese,  Hin 
doos,  and  Hebrews  from  self-conviction  for  exampled 
re-enaction,  with  the  certainty  of  a  resulting  trans 
mission  from  the  fact  that  like  begets  like  with  rare 
variations  and  but  few  apparent  exceptions. 

"  The  Israelitish  posterity  of  Cain  evidently  consid 
ered  that  their  original  (orang)  tail  endowment  was 
held  in  pawn  by  their  Lord  God  Almighty.  Hence, 
their  monthly  sacrifices  and  ordinance  rites  of  interest, 
and  the  fearful  warning  injunctions  of  their  priests, 
that  his  chosen  people  should  be  ever  mindful  of  the 
irrevocable  penalty  of  forfeiture,  that  would  be  decreed 
if  they  sinned  away  the  day  of  redeeming  grace.  The 
language  of  circumcision  and  the  exclusion  of  their 
women,  as  daughters  of  Eve,  from  the  penitential  sac 
rifices  offered  at  the  throne  of  redeeming  grace,  shows 
that  they  were  held  responsible  for  the  original  sin  of 
curtail,  and  had  justly  forfeited  the  rights  of  salvation 
for  their  collateral  security.  rlhe  profanity  and  over 
indulgence  of  men  in  ardent  spirit  and  kindred  sources 
of  intoxication,  plainly  indicates  the  toddy  source  of 
temptation,  while  in  negative  evidence  the  natural 
aversion  of  women  to  everything  of  the  kind  affords 
proof  positive  that  they  retain  the  transmitted  impres 
sion  of  culpability  that  caused  Eve-viction  and  the 
curse  of  multiplication  for  the  perpetuation  of  misery. 
Although  not  allowed  to  participate  in  the  weekly  and 
monthly  oblations  of  the  males,  they  could  not  be  re 
strained  from  the  ordinance  rites  of  devotional  wor 
ship,  manifested  in  dress  memorials  of  attachment  to 
the  bereaved  part  and  to  the  head,  in  symbolical  refer 
ence  and  appeal  to  the  old  Serpent's  union  of  head 
and  tail  without  the  intervention  of  a  body  between 
for  temptation's  provocation.  When  we  take  into  con 
sideration  and  carefully  investigate  all  these  contribut 
ing  attributes  immediately  displayed  by  the  customary 
habits  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Israel,  and  trace 
the  resulting  effect  to  the  present  day,  nothing  can  be 
more  evident  than  the  necessity  of  a  tail  for  their  re 
habilitation  and  restoration  to  the  promised  land  of 
their  fathers,  where  there  is  gold  and  precious  stones, 
fully  regenerated  in  their  original  likeness. 


232  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

"As  a  prelude  to  the  controversial  effect  of  toddy 
temptation  to  sin,  the  old  Serpent,  as  the  father  of 
lies,  introduces  his  style  of  argument  to  Eve  for  hered 
itary  impression  upon  Cain  and  Abel,  as  the  source  of 
sectarian,  legal  and  warlike  discussions  of  ordinance 
and  diplomatic  rites  (rights.)  Notwithstanding  the 
degeneration  of  the  serpentic  sibilation  into  the  dog 
matic  style  of  barking  enunciation,  from  the  effects  of 
word  multiplication;  the  speaking  impression  derived 
from  the  instinctive  union  of  head  and  tail  is  still 
predominant  in  verification  of  source.  In  demonstra 
tive  proof  we  have  the  obscene  and  the  blasphemous 
praying  appeals  made  to  the  God  of  Israel  for  ven 
geance,  which  reflect  in  vent  their  characteristic  stig- 
matic  intention  upon  the  Supreme  Creator,  thereby 
affording  conclusive  evidence  in  revelation  of  the 
multiplied  existence  of  over-indulgence  that  in  sur- 
plant  with  Eve  begot  Cain  and  Abel,  and  the  Serpent's 
impression  for  the  vituperative  use  of  language  for 
individual  and  sectarian  swearing  anathematization. 
From  these  combined  effects — 

"  Then  we  have,  for  degeneration's  test, 
The  cancer  of  the  womb  and  mother's  breast; 
These  show  in  train  the  source  and  woful  sum 
From  whence  the  curse  of  Eve's  transgression  come. 

"For  an  illustration  of  the  process  required  for  the 
enactment  fulfillment  of  prophecy  we  will  refer  you  to 
the  reformatory  styles  of  swearing  adopted  by  the 
popular  American  writers,  Bret  Harte  and  Joaquin 
Miller.  The  influence  of  their  litter-ary  labors  will  in 
practical  effect  prove  prophetic  to  future  generations 
for  the  propagation  and  multiplication  of  examples  in 
kindred  current  with  their  creations,  which  in  epitaph 
style  might  be  truthfully  expressed — 

"  They  were  born,  cried,  ate,  guzzled  and  lied; 
Then  with  lust's  transition,  wrangled,  fought  and  died. 

"Through  all  the  literary  departments  of  language 
since  its  first  sermonic  introduction,  these  serpentic 
specialties  have  prevailed  as  a  lure  for  expression;  in 


M.    SHAWTINBACH .  IN  SUMATKA.  233 

poetry  as  well  as  prose;  but  in  each  lacking  the  true 
inspiration  of  the  head  for  an  exampled  affection  ca 
pable  of  imparting  a  foretaste  of  immortality.  Still, 
there  have  been  individual  and  family  oases  in  the 
desert  track,  which  reflect  their  memorial  light  as  a 
glad  beacon  to  herald,  with  the  will,  the  power  of  shed 
ding  beneficent  rays,  capable  of  impressing  its  sympa 
thy  for  good  upon  the  most  abject  and  fanatical  com 
munist  followers,  in  the  sectarian  track  of  Cain  and 
Abel.  A  characteristic  illustration  I  will  relate,  that 
you  may  treasure  it  as  an  abiding  source  for  congenial 
sympathy : 


''During  the  Caliphate  of  AlMamum,  styled  the  tem 
perate  and  beneficent,  Egypt  and  the  coasts  of  the 
Mediterranean  sea  were  periodically  visited  by  the 
plague,  clothed  in  the  grim  habiliments  of  death  in  its 
most  dreaded  form.  Fortunately,  from  the  time  of  the 
Caliph  Omar,  the  Hebrews  had  not  only  been  tolerated, 
but  encouraged  in  their  then  humanitarian  fond 
ness  for  the  practice  of  the  healing  art. 

"As  a  meed  of  gratitude  for  the  preservation  of  his 
own  life  through  the  ascribed  instrumentality  of  the 
rabbi  Abou  Ben  Isaacs,  'under  the  auspicious  favor  of 
Allah/  Omar,  in  defiance  of  the  fanatical  prejudices  of 
his  own  race,  who  with  Christian  avidity  esteemed  it  a 
duty  to  hate  and  revile  the  Jews,  sanctioned  the  union 
of  his  preserver's  son  with  his  own  niece.  This  mar 
riage  gave  birth  to  a  race  alike  celebrated  for  beauty  of 
person  and  self-sacrificing  benevolence,  who  proved 
a  wall  of  defense  for  the  preservation  of  their  own 
people  against  the  persecutions  and  insults  provoked 
by  the  selfish  greediness  of  their  sordid  love  for  gold. 

"  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs,  of  the  fourth  generation  in  de 
scent  from  the  Rabbi  Abou,  established  a  school  at 
Cairo,  with  tributary  branches  in  all  the  chief  cities  of 
the  Caliphate,  for  the  education  of  those  predisposed 
from  benevolent  desire  for  the  study  of  vocations  ap 
pertaining  to  the  curative  art  of  medication  and  pre 
ventive  preservation  from  disease.  These  schools  were 
under  the  especial  patronage  and  protection  of  Al 


234  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

Mamum,  who  enforced  the  precautionary  measures 
advised  for  holding  the  plague  in  check,  as  well  as 
those  urged  for  general  sanitary  protection  against  the 
predisposition  of  the  Arabs  and  Moors  to  harbor  un 
cleanly  habits.  In  spite  of  fanatical  opposition  by  zeal 
ots  during  the  intermissions  of  the  plague  scourge, 
Abdilatif ,  a  prominent  writer  of  the  period,  acknowl 
edged  that  by  his  systematic  course  adopted  for  en 
forcing  remedial  means  of  prevention,  other  diseases 
had  been  reduced  to  comparatively  innocuous  state. 
His  reputation,  and  that  of  his  family,  had  extended 
to  remote  countries,  investing  the  curative  intelligence 
of  the  Jews  with  a  talismanic  mantle  that  for  the  time 
afforded  a  more  secure  source  of  protection  than  their 
golden  shield.  But  the  controlling  influence  of  priestly 
bigotry,  less  enlightened,  persecuted  the  disciples  of 
Ahmed  with  their  accustomed  virulence,  as  soon  as  the 
fatal  symptoms  of  the  pestilence  began  to  abate, 
obliging  them  to  seek  an  asylum  with  the  more  lenient 
Moslem.  In  perfecting  the  system  inaugurated  by  his 
ancestors,  Ahmed  selected  his  disciples  without  regard 
to  nationality  ;  invariably  selecting  children  who  had 
exhibited  traits  of  a  pitying  disposition,  and  had 
trained  their  tearful  prattling  sympathies  to  become  a 
solace  and  aid  to  suffering.  When  fully  matured  by 
study  for  the  charge  of  patients,  they  were  enjoined 
to  hold  themselves  gratuitously  at  the  disposal  of  the 
good,  with  the  enlistment  of  all  their  energies  for  the 
preservation  of  life,  as  in  sympathy  bound,  without 
regard  to  station  or  influence.  This  injunction  with 
its  implied  characteristic  negative  soon  became  known, 
and  as  its  justice  cannot  be  gainsaid  upon  other 
grounds  than  fallacy  of  judgment  in  the  nurse  or  phy 
sician,  it  caused  in  anticipation  of  the  plague's  ap 
proach  a  marked  effect  in  subduing  the  passionate  as 
perities  of  the  unruly,  to  at  least  an  outward  semblance 
of  confiding  harmony.  To  him  the  Arabians  and 
Egyptians  were  indebted  for  an  exact  knowledge  of 
the  location  and  distinguishing  nomenclature  of  the 
most  prominent  organs  pertaining  to  the  human  econ 
omy.  He  also  instructed  his  pupils  practically  in  com 
parative  anatomy,  selecting  the  hog  as  a  favorite  sub- 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        235 

ject,  from  his  satirical  likeness  in  physical  conforma 
tion  and  omnivorous  habits,  as  a  possible  archetype  to 
the  human  species. 

"  By  this  course,  which  involved  a  demonstration  of 
points  of  resemblance  in  congenic  alliance  of  structure 
and  habit  with  the  animal  most  abhorred  by  Jew  and 
Arab  as  an  abomination  exceeding  the  limits  of  tolera 
tion,  he  confirmed  a  prejudice  for  the  correction  of  ex 
cesses  in  eating  and  drinking  that  derived  zest,  in  en 
mity,  from  the  Christian  custom  of  solemnizing  events 
of  every  description  with  banqueting  feasts  for  gour- 
mandizing.  From  the  discovery  of  human  skeletons 
concealed  in  the  walls  of  his  house  at  Cairo,  some  cen 
turies  after  his  family  had  lost  the  medical  prestige  he 
had  established,  it  was  shrewdly  suspected  by  his  own 
people  that  the  anatomical  points  of  resemblance  be 
tween  mankind  and  swine  had  been  practically  demon 
strated  to  his  pupils,  causing  a  cannibalistic  dread  of 
using  the  latter  species  as  an  article  of  food,  which 
added  to  the  repugnance  already  engendered  from 
their  scavenger  habits  of  gleaning  sustenance  from  the 
vilest  garbage.  The  revelation  of  these  ghastly  tro 
phies  by  an  earthquake  was  looked  upon  as  an  express 
indication  of  the  prophet's  displeasure,  thereby  in 
creasing  the  zealous  hatred  of  his  followers  against  the 
Hebrew  race  tenfold. 

"  At  the  approach  of  the  summer  solstice  in  822  H., 
while  the  father,  Ahmed,  was  attending  to  the  duties 
of  his  school  in  Cairo,  his  eldest  son  wrote  from  the 
head  waters  of  the  Nubian  Nile  that  the  climacteric 
evidences  of  the  season  indicated  an  invasion  of  the 
plague  arrayed  in  its  most  virulent  form.  On  the  re 
ception  of  the  news,  messengers  were  dispatched  to 
recall  his  absent  children  from  the  cities  of  the  Med 
iterranean. 

"  Before  their  arrival  he  mustered  his  pupils  and 
disciples,  and  after  a  thorough  demonstration  of  the 
precautionary  measures  he  wished  to  employ,  he  des 
patched  them  to  locations  most  likely  to  be  the  first 
subjected  to  an  attack  of  the  dreaded  scourge.  As  he 
had  been  formally  invested  with  the  sanitary  regula 
tions  of  the  Caliph's  dominions;  his  badge  was  sum- 


236  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

cient  to  insure  strict  obedience  to  his  directions,  pro 
mulgated  through  the  agency  of  his  accredited  dis 
ciples.  Besides,  his  edicts  were  clothed  in  the  sympa 
thetic  garb  of  benevolence,  free  from  arrogant  assump 
tions  of  power  even  for  the  collection  of  contributions 
of  material  aid  which  were  generously  supplied  in 
overplus  with  the  cheer  of  good  will. 

Although  the  family  of  Ahmed  were  still  Hebrews 
in  the  outward  observance  of  ceremonial  rites,  cumula 
tive  greed  was  denounced  whenever  or  wherever  its 
appearance  was  made  manifest.  From  a  long  test  of 
his  strict  integrity,  Arab,  Jew,  Egyptian  and  Moor  placed 
unlimited  confidence  in  the  representatives  delegated 
for  the  supervision  of  districts,  offering,  with  grateful 
submission,  not  only  personal  service,  but  the  full 
command  of  their  earthly  possessions,  a  trust  that  was 
never  in  a  single  instance  betrayed  for  selfish  pecu 
lation. 

"  The  daughters  of  Ahmed  joined  him  as  he  was  in 
the  act  of  embarking  to  superintend  the  preparations 
for  locating  desert  encampments  distant  from  the  river 
settlements  and  minor  cities  of  the  Kile,  then  popu 
lous.  His  youngest  daughter  Zera,  then  in  her  fif 
teenth  year,  had  but  a  short  time  before  entered  upon 
her  novitiate  duties  as  a  nurse  under  the  guardianship 
of  her  brother  in  Alexandria,  but  was  endowed  with 
incomparable  zeal  and  love  for  succoring  needy  worth 
and  ministering  to  the.  sick  and  distressed. 

' '  Kindly  sympathy  for  the  good  in  misfortune  was 
then  only  known  and  felt  within  the  family  circles 
and  kinship  of  the  daughters  of  Israel,  which  had  been 
developed  in  them  by  adversity  until  it  became  a  source 
of  protection  despite  the  usury  of  their  paternal  kind- 
dred,  and  in  subsequent  ages  it  embalmed  grateful 
memories  ennobled  with  the  nurture  of  an  affection 
that  overstepped  the  selfish  restrictions  of  race.  The 
daughters  of  Ahmed  were  possessed  of  rare  personal 
beauty,  blending  the  peculiar  type  of  the  Hebrew  from 
paternal  ancestry,  with  the  maternal  Arabian,  no  less 
distinguished  for  symmetry  of  contour  in  the  perfec 
tion  of  facial  outline  and  tint  than  in  bodily  charms 
adapted  for  graceful  development  in  movement.  In- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  237 

deed,  the  maternal  line  of  Omar  were  justly  celebrated 
for  all  the  constituents  of  personal  refinement,  but 
were  lacking  in  the  expression  of  courageous  endur 
ance  and  depth  of  outflowing  affection,  whose  tendrils 
had  wreathed  the  expression  of  the  daughters  of  Zion 
with  the  halo  of  an  enduring  sympathy. 

"  Of  Ahmed's  daughters,  Zera,  the  youngest,  was  the 
lustrous  embodiment  of  the  reflected  union  of  the 
races  in  beauty,  and  around  her  clustered  the  rays  of 
family  affection,  without  a  thought  questioning  her 
claims  to  their  united  devotion.  On  their  arrival,  while 
mingling  their  tears  in  the  joyful  embrace  of  loving 
affection,  and  consulting  their  father  with  regard  to 
the  object  of  their  recall,  a  swiftly  propelled  nilenca 
(messenger  boat  of  the  period)  approached  the  land 
ing,  and  a  habited  courier,  ready  poised  on  the  prow, 
prepared  for  a  leap  to  the  shore,  attracted  their  at 
tention. 

"  On  the  alert  of  expectation,  the  eyes  of  the  aged 
Ahmed  had  recognized  his  eldest  son  in  the  person  of 
the  courier,  while  bestowing  upon  his  daughters  glad 
tears  of  welcome — understanding  the  full  import  of 
a  visit  that  had  brought  his  son  from  Nubia;  for  the 
pestilence,  like  the  cloud  speck  rising  above  the  desert 
horizon,  admonished,  with  its  herald  appearance,  the 
swift  approach  of  the  sirocco  blight  in  its  wake.  Re 
ceived  in  their  open  arms  with  salutations  of  inquiry  he 
speedily  made  known  to  them  the  urgency  of  his  des 
patch  for  their  assistance. 

"  Forgetful  of  themselves,  with  all  haste  they  em 
barked  with  a  relay  of  rowers,  without  the  loss  of  a 
moment,  even  for  the  natural  assurance  of  personal 
welfare,  and  were  soon  engaged  in  questioning  the 
most  effectual  means  of  precaution  and  advantages  of 
locations  for  individual  disposal  for  staying  the  pro 
gress  and  abating  the  virulence  of  the  scourge. 

"  With  the  aid  of  a  favoring  wind  adverse  to  the 
approaching  onslaught  of  the  terrible  disease,  they 
were  enabled  to  reach  their  destination  before  its  des 
tructive  energies  were  fully  engaged. 

"  Having  hastened  the  river  throngs  of  dismayed 
beings  to  the  desert  encampments,  while  urging  such 


238     INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

precautionary  measures  as  the  suggestions  of  the  mo 
ment  prompted,  he,  with  his  youngest  daughter, 
pushed  on  to  meet  the  foe  in  advance  at  Chenoboscion. 
"Visiting  with  Zera  the  catacombs  of  Lycopolis, 
they  were  soon  actively  engaged  in  the  duties  of  their 
vocations.  It  was  while  engaged  in  preparing  the 
dromos,  porticos,  and  tombs  for  the  reception  of  the 
victims,  that  the  aged  Ahmed  was  subjected  to  a  sore 
trial,  which  threatened  the  loss  of  his  treasured  daugh 
ter  Zera. 

"  To  show  the  Influence  exerted  for  real  good  by  the 
affectionate  benevolence  of  this  single  family  over  the 
fanatical  prejudice  opposed  to  their  race,  I  will  quote 
the  languaged  expression  of  the  sheik,  who  had  been 
installed  the  presiding  ruler  of  the  district  during  the 
ravages  of  the  pestilence,  describing  the  dismay  that 
attended  the  announcement  that  Zera  had  been 
stricken  with  the  plague : 

"  line  Sheik  Athrul  writes :  '  How  strangely  moved 
was  I  with  dread,  mingled  with  the  strong  emotions  of 
a  father's  love  aroused  by  grief,  when  summoned  by 
the  imploring  message  of  my  recovering  favorites, 
urging  me  to  visit  them  with  their  mother,  where  they 
were  lying  in  the  dromo  of  the  Chenobian  tomb?  En 
tering,  my  cowardly  heart  forgot  its  fear,  when  Mirza 
and  Abdallah,  in  the  fullness  of  their  joy,  all  unmind 
ful  in  their  love  that  their  yet  infectious  breaths  might 
impart  the  deadly  poison,  fell  on  our  necks,  wept, 
sobbed,  and  kissed,  until  the  tearful  founts  of  love 
were  checked  by  a  hushed  silence,  as  a  wailing  cry 
and  prayer  arose  from  a  voice  trembling  in  its  deep 
intonations  as  if  choked  with  the  burden  sighs  of  its 
supplication.  As  we  quickly  turned  in  sudden  release 
from  the  embrace  of  our  children,  who,  in  panic  amaze 
ment,  gazed,  with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  a  prostrate 
form,  in  startled  anguish,  over  which,  with  his  head 
bowed  upon  his  hands  in  sorrow,  the  venerable  Ahmed 
invoked  the  aid  of  Allah,  the  God  of  the  faithful, 
whether  Moslem,  Hebrew,  or  Christian,  whom  our 
hearts  recognized  as  Zera,  his  best  beloved,  the  savior 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  139 

of  our  children,  who  now  joined  their  plaintful  sobs 
to  the  prayers  echoed  on  every  side.  When  she  was 
raised  by  a  nurse,  and  we  saw  the  blanched  cheeks  of 
the  houri  face,  so  beautiful,  smitten  with  the  plague 
spot  from  the  iron  hand  of  the  vengeful  Zobaah,  we 
knelt,  moved  by  a  spirit  powerful  beyond  our  control, 
and,  forgetting  the  injunctions  of  our  faith,  bowed 
our  hearts  imploringly  in  her  behalf  in  peaceful  union 
with  the  kindly  disposed  of  all  mankind,  offering  a 
whispered  invocation  in  unison  with  her  father's: 

"  'Creator,  this  treasure,  thou  didst  bestow, 
With  thy  cherished  love,  nurtured  here  below; 
And  while  with  mortals  numbered,  this  we  pray, 
Lend  us  our  daughter's  love  for  earthly  stay! 

" '  At  the  close  of  the  father's  invocation  a  sigh  of  re 
sponse  gave  voice  to  our  hopes.  Even  those  with  the 
dawn  of  recovery  just  breaking  could  not  withhold 
their  whispered  offers  of  service,  striving  to  second  in 
act  their  proffered  help.  As  the  news  of  Ahmed's 
threatened  bereavement  spread,  the  Nile  and  its  shores 
became  thronged  with  the  sad  faces  of  waiting  thous 
ands,  who  wept  afar  off,  that  no  dangerous  taint,  or 
wail  of  sorrow  should  mar  the  reviving  prospect  of  the 
loved  one's  recovery. 

"  '  Like  pilgrims  clustered  around  Mecca's  sacred  shrine, 
They  prayed  for  succor  s  omen  raised  by  hand  divine. 

"  '  The  brothers  and  sisters  of  Zera  ministering  at 
places  near,  warned  by  ready  messengers,  of  her  dan 
ger,  arrived  during  the  night.  As  they  landed,  the 
assembled  multitude  opened  a  passage;  prostrating 
themselves  on  either  side,  they  bowed  their  heads  in 
silent  sympathy. 

"  '  As  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Moncatten  reddened 
with  the  glory  of  the  morning  sun,  the  glad  tidings 
reached  the  still-crowded  shore,  that  the  dangerous 
crisis  had  passed;  the  chalky  pallor  having  given  place 
to  the  warmth  of  reviving  moisture.  In  whispers  the 
inspiring  news  spread  from  mouth  to  mouth,  until 
from  the  rustling  sounds  of  grain-heads  full  ripened 


240  INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE  OF 

for  the  harvest,  fanned  by  the  morning  zephyr,  it  grew 
in  strength  to  the  voiced  accompaniment  of  twittering 
swallows  at  even-tide,  and  when  it  was  announced  that 
Zera  was  restored,  it  swelled  into  the  anthemed  song 
of  thanksgiving  and  praise. 

"  'Allah,  the  spirit  gave, 
And  he  alone  can  save  ; 
We  bless  His  holy  name, 
We  bless  His  holy  name! 

"  '  With  the  full  recovery  of  Zera  the  force  of  the 
plague  had  passed  away,  as  mysterious  in  cause  of  de 
parture  as  in  advent,  but  only  to  extend  its  ravages  in 
new  places;  first  along  the  southern  shore  of  the  Med 
iterranean,  then  crossing  at  Gibraltar,  ravaged  the 
northern  coast  cities  from  Oporto  to  Smyrna.  The 
reputation  of  Ahmed's  skilful  treatment  of  the  plague 
had  already  been  established,  but  on  this  occasion  his 
success  had  been  so  unparalelled  that  its  fatality  had 
been  reduced  below  the  source  excitement  of  panic 
fear,  and  by  precautionary  aid  in  advance  of  irruption, 
he  had  insured  a  strict  adherence  to  his  directions. 

4<<He  especially  impressed  upon  his  children  and 
disciples  the  indispensable  necessity  of  using  the  most 
efficient  means  for  inspiring  the  emotions  of  courage, 
reminding  them  that  the  true  source  of  its  power  re 
sided  in  dispassionate  affection,  which  readily  enlisted 
itself  for  the  welfare  of  others.  In  addition,  he  urged 
them  to  admonish  the  people  to  banish  selfish  preju 
dices  peculiar  to  ordinance  worship,  while  amenable  to 
the  influence  of  their  watchful  care,  that  their  kind 
ness  might  render  them  subject  to  the  impressions  of 
good-will  when  restored  to  health.  Impressing  his  ad 
vice  with  example,  he  was  ever  ready  to  cope  with  the 
disease  in  its  most  virulent  form,  that  he  might  make 
manifest  with  personal  proof  the  value  of  true  affec 
tion  as  a  ward  against  an  infectious  contagion  which 
had  caused  the  dispersion  of  armies  with  panic  fear. 
By  these  precautionary  measures,  he  made  genial  sym 
pathy  and  confiding  trust  the  tonic  resource  of  his  art 
for  fortifying  the  human  system  against  the  insidious 
formidable  foe  that  sought  to  resolve  its  bodily  com- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  241 

ponents  to  their  original  source.  As  you  will  antici 
pate,  it  required  extraordinary  discretion  for  the  con 
trol  and  direction  of  the  masses,  but  the  source  of  the 
influence  exerted  by  the  venerable  Ahmed  and  his  dis 
ciples  you  can  now  readily  appreciate.' 

"  The  tribute  paid  by  Maftts  Abdullah,  a  contemporary 
writer,  to  the  worth  and  devotion  of  this  remarkable 
family  shows  the  exemplar  influence  of  goodness  in 
subduing  the  wild  rage  of  fanatical  instinct. 

"  '  Praised  be  Allah,  they — the  family  Ahmed — have, 
with  his  beneficent  aid,  taken  such  precautions,  with 
the  willing  compliance  of  true  believers,  that  the 
genii  had  lost  their  power  for  evil  through  their  most 
destructive  agent  the  pestilence.  Throughout  the 
realms  subject  to  the  radiant  lights  of  Allah,  under 
the  rule  of  his  prophet  Mahomet — to  whom  we  com 
mend  ourselves  with  thanksgiving  for  his  timely  inter 
cession  in  our  behalf — the  scourge  has  passed  like  the 
desert  sand-storm,  leaving  us  chastened  and  purified 
from  drones  and  evil-doers.  In  manifest  proof  of  his 
especial  favor  we  are  now  scathless,  while  the  cities  of 
the  reprobate  unbelievers  are  subject  to  the  woful 
vengeance  of  the  remorseful  destroyer  Zobaah,  whose 
power  has  been  subdued  by  the  sword  and  shield  of 
our  protector,  under  the  rule  of  Allah,  so  that  his 
hands  are  as  harmless  as  if  smitten  with  the  word  of 
iron*  from  the  mouth  of  a  despised  zahooda  (a  term  of 
opprobrium  applied  to  the  Jews),  whose  family  have 
been  made  instrumental  for  our  preservation. 

"  '  That  Allah  is  omnipotent  and  the  father  of  the 
unbeliever  (whom  he  justly  scourges)  as  well  as  the 
faithful,  he  has  made  manifest  by  these  means  which 
he  has  raised  up  by  his  inscrutable  providence  for  our 
salvation.  Even  our  women,  who  exceed  their  mas 
ters  in  the  bitterness  of  zeal,  without  the  thoughtful 
restraint  of  judgment — with  the  impetuous  gratitude 
of  mothers  have  opened  the  exhaustless  flood-gates  of 
their  eyes  to  water  with  grateful  tears  the  seeds  of  for 
giveness  inspired  from  their  devotion,  so  that  a  fruit- 

*I.ron  is  used  by  the  Arabians  as  a  tahsmanic  word  for  protec 
tion  against  the  malicious  intentions  of  the  genii. 

11 


242  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

ful   growth  of   love  may  be  encouraged  in  our   more 
obdurate  hearts.' 

"  We  will  now  note  the  contrast  shown  in  the  bestowal 
of  Christian  gratitude  for  service  rendered  in  their  be 
half  by  the  family  of  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs.  The  father, 
with  his  daughter  Zera,  kept  in  advance  of  the  pesti 
lence,  to  prepare  the  way  for  active  treatment  under 
the  influence  of  its  modification  from  the  sanitary  im 
pression  of  his  regulations.  After  the  disease  had 
disappeared  from  the  Caliph's  African  dominions, while 
recruiting  his  own  and  the  health  of  his  family  at  Sale, 
in  preparation  for  a  coasting  voyage  in  a  felucca  back  to 
Alexandria,  on  the  eve  of  departure  a  cry  for  help 
came  from  Algesiras,  across  the  straits,  where  the  pes 
tilence  had  opened  its  attack  with  fearful  ravages 

"From  the  procrastinating  Iberian  disposition, 
which  had  been  forewarned  of  the  necessity  of  taking 
the  advised  steps  of  precaution  that  had  rendered  its 
African  transit  comparatively  innocuous,  the  full  terrors 
of  the  scourge  were  developed  in  the  onset.  This  in 
fatuated  delay  of  lazy  confidence,  in  the  hope  that  the 
air  current  of  the  straits  would  bar  the  passage  of  the 
infection,  was  strengthened  when  the  course  of  the 
plague  from  Tangier  was  directed  down  the  Atlantic 
coast. 

"  In  proof  that  folly  courts  destruction,  the  interdict 
of  communication  between  the  African  and  Spanish 
ports  was  removed;  but  with  the  first  vessel's  return 
from  Omar  to  Alicaut,  it  brought  with  its  cargo,  which 
yielded  an  enormous  profit,  death's  consignment  of  the 
plague  to  the  family  of  its  owner.  Within  an  hour  of 
the  time  of  the  messenger's  arrival  the  '  gallaso  '  was 
on  its  passage  back,  bearing  the  father,  two  sons;  and 
three  daughters,  and  as  many  experienced  aids  as 
could  be  mustered  for  the  merciful  service;  Zera  and 
his  eldest  son  embarking  at  the  same  time  on  board  of 
the  felucca  for  Alexandria. 

"On  landing  at  Al  Dschirza,  he  found  the  people 
paralyzed  with  fear,  having  neglected  every  precaution 
advised  to  avert  the  plague's  severity.  This  reckless 
negligence  increased  the  labors  of  Ahmed's  family  ten- 


M.      HAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  243 

fold;  and  he  was  unable  to  gain  an  advanced  check 
upon  the  disease  until  it  had  reached  Valencia. 

"But  from  that  city  its  virulence  began  to  abate. 
The  moment  he  entered  the  Christian  dominions,  al 
though  his  help  had  been  invoked  with  the  most  abject 
terms  of  entreaty,  his  family  and  aids  were  subjected 
to  every  description  of  annoyance  that  fanatical  bigo 
try  could  invent;  all  their  movements,  both  public  and 
private,  were  placed  under  espionage. 

"Notwithstanding  the  open  declaration  made  of  his 
precautionary  measures  and  remedial  treatment  at  Ven 
ice,  where  he  had  been  unusually  successful,  he  was 
seized  and  imprisoned  by  Papal  decree — after  the  dis 
ease  had  been  subdued — just  as  he  and  his  family  were 
about  embarking  for  Egypt.  Accused  of  deriving  his 
curative  power  from  an  unholy  alliance  with  the  devil,  he 
was  subjected  to  torture  to  force  from  him  a  confession 
of  the  secret  of  his  success.  His  constant  asseverations 
that  his  dependence  was  upon  a  strict  adherence  to 
cleanly  habits  and  temperance  in  eating  and  drinking 
did  not  save  him  from  an  increase  of  torments,  until  at 
last  his  sufferings  aroused  the  old  leaven  of  Hebrew 
courage  which  embohlc-ned  him  to  exclaim  in  defiant  sar 
casm:  '  You  can  torment  me  to  death,  but  the  remedy, 
human  sympathy  will  then  be,  as  it  is  now,  beyond  your 
reach !'  It  required  the  intercession  of  the  Caliph,  ac 
companied  by  a  large  ransom,  to  obtain  his  liberation 
from  the  detaining  expressions  of  Christian  gratitude. 
It  was  not  until  his  arrival  in  Egypt  that  Papal  greed  was 
surprised  and  mortified  to  learn  that  the  price  of  re 
demption  demanded  and  received  from  the  grateful  Mos 
lems  was  scarcely  a  thousandth  part  of  the  volunteered 
contributions,  which  had  been  returned  to  the  Divers. 
The  crushed  and  mangled  form  of  the  patriarch  was 
received  by  his  children  with  just  vitality  enough  to 
recognize  them  with  a  last  fond  embrace  before  the 
animus  of  goodness  winged  its  departure  from  paternal 
embodiment. 

"  The  following  year  was  memorable  for  the  reap 
pearance  of  the  plague  in  the  Christian  cities  of  the 
northern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  with  a  severity 

Tm- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCE   OF 

so  deadly  that  it  was  considered  by  the  Moslems 
as  a  direct  indication  of  retributive  justice  for  the 
inhuman  treatment  bestowed  in  requital  for  the  ser 
vices  rendered  by  the  family  of  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs. 
Their  interpretation — although  clear  to  our  under 
standing  from  natural  causes — was  certainly  a  vindica 
tion  of  creative  intention,  that  declared  itself  in  sup 
port  of  purification  as  an  addenda  precaution  quite  as 
indispensable  after  the  plague,  as  before,  that  the 
germinating  cause  might  be  destroyed. 

"Father  Ariego,  in  whom  we  cannot  fail  to  discover 
discriminate  indications  of  worth,  bears  testimony  to 
the  wonderful  success  of  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs'  system  of 
treatment  in  his  'Pall  for  the  Plague/  a  passage  from 
which  I  will  quote: 

"  'Much  to  the  surprise  of  our  physicians,  the  plague 
has  again  commenced  its  ravages  in  our  cities  with  in 
creased  fatality,  after  scarcely  four  months'  cessation. 
Its  recurrence  in  two  successive  years  is  without  a 
precedent;  for  even  in  Egypt,  its  source  of  invasion, 
the  lapse  of  three  or  four  years  is  counted  necessary 
for  the  revival  of  its  destructive  power.  Our  physicians 
can  scarcely  be  thought  less  than  food-givers  for  its 
progress;  as  they  add  by  their  example  of  fearful  hesita 
tion  to  the  panic  upon  which  it  feeds;  indeed,  the  dis 
ease  pays  as  little  respect  to  their  persons  as  to  their 
remedies. 

"  '  The  Caliph  has  been  implored  in  vain  for  the  suc 
coring  aid  of  his  physicians,  whose  success  of  last  year 
reduced  the  fatality  of  the  disease,  so  that  it  but  little 
exceeded  that  of  our  tertian  fevers.  They  testify  their 
willingness  to  render  our  people  the  much  needed  as 
sistance  if  the  Pontiff  will  send  them  his  written  assur 
ance  of  protection  and  safe  return  to  their  homes  when 
the  object  of  their  mission  has  been  accomplished. 
But  they  stipulate  that  the  rulers  shall  extend  to  them 
the  fame  authority  with  the  means  of  prevention,  ac 
corded  by  the  Caliph.  These  passports  of  security 
and  success  were  quickly  dispatched  by  the  Pontiff. 
But  upon  their  application  to  the  Caliph  for  permis 
sion,  he  directly  interdicted  the  fulfillment  of  their  de- 


M.    SHAVVTINBACH   IN    SUMATRA.  245 

sire,  declaring  it  as  his  belief  that  the  infliction  was  a 
direct  manifestation  of  Allah's  displeasure  as  a  pun 
ishment  for  our  cruel  ingratitude  in  causing  the  death 
by  torture  of  the  father  of  the  family,  after  his  bene 
factions  in  behalf  of  our  race.  Failing,  after  pleading 
our  culpability,  without  extenuation,  one  of  the  family 
disciples  was  liberated  after  he  had  been  retained  a 
prisoner  for  malpractice,  or  collusio  ab  wfernum,  and 
allowed  to  unite  a  body  of  volunteer  assistants  as  an 
order  of  mercy  for  attendance  upon  the  sick.  But  as 
they  were  unskilled  in  precautionary  measures,  their 
assistance  proved  of  little  value,  except  as  a  palliative 
resource.  From  the  want  of  competent  instruction, 
they  were  obliged  to  confine  their  attentions  to  the 
sick,  which  was  but  a  small  part  of  the  Hebrew  cur 
riculum  of  study  under  their  great  master.' 

"  Nearly  all  the  children  of  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs  mar 
ried  foreign  to  their  native  source  of  racial  extraction. 
The  only  record  made  of  Zera,  after  her  father's  death, 
was  the  tribute  inscription  copied  from  the  urn  re 
ceptacle  of  her  ashes: 

"  '  Loved  spirit!  that  erst  gave  these  ashes  life, 
With  fair  form  endowed,  and  made  thee  a  wife, 
If  here  from  thy  realm  thou  still  can  impart 
The  love  that  once  cheered  the  now  severed  heart, 
Still  hover  around,  with  the  balm  of  thy  breath, 
Purified  of  earth  and  exalted  by  death!' 

"The  Hebrews,  of  all  the  races  enshrouded  with 
the  barbarous  pall  of  the  'dark  ages/  alone  retained  a 
reverential  respect  and  love  for  parental  experience 
exercised  in  authority.  But,  even  with  them,  this  tie 
was  alloyed  with  an  exclusive  selfishness  that  strictly 
interdicted  marital  relations  with  tribes  and  septs  for 
eign  to  the  traditional  seal  of  their  own  ordinance  rites 
and  ceremonies  as  the  chosen  people  of  Israel's  God. 
The  grandeur  of  Solomon's  achievements  in  the  grat 
ification  of  instinctive  passion,  and  temple  building, 
absorbed  their  veneration  so  completely  that  they  ig 
nored  everything  as  unholy  that  had  not  received  the 
sacred  sanction  of  their  song-king's  commendation. 


246  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

The  race  of  their  conquerors,  who  had  dispersed  their 
tribes  and  destroyed  the  temple  of  their  worship,  had 
passed  away,  and  with  their  language  were  numbered 
with  the  dead,  and  upon  this  omen  they  founded  their 
hopes  of  a  golden  resurrection,  with  a  temple  title  to 
be  remembered  with  the  heavenly  nobility  of  their  re 
constructed  New  Jerusalem. 

"  This  vague,  hoped-for  consummation  of  a  phan 
tom  mythology,  founded  upon  the  mendacious  gratifi 
cations  of  instinct  became  the  'will-o'-wisp'  infatua 
tion  of  their  worship,  which  has  grown  stronger,  as 
with  other  tenets,  the  further  they  receded  from  rea 
sonable  comprehension.  Their  sole  source  of  expec 
tation  for  the  realization  of  their  dream  was  derived 
from  the  materialized  influence  of  the  -precious  metals.' 
To  gain  the  golden  viaticum  they  were  ready  to  adopt 
all  the  attributes  derived  in  denouncement  from  the 
curse  of  multiplication  instigated  by  the  old  Serpent. 
With  this  self-prophesied  goal  in  view,  reason  became 
dethroned  by  selfish  egotism;  so  that  they  were  blinded 
for  the  perception  of  their  own  physical  and  mental 
degeneration;  for  with  the  golden  currency  of  his  god 
in  view,  he  begrudged  the  means  of  animal  subsistence, 
which  in  reaction  upon  the  body  dwarfed  it,  in  increas 
ing  contrast  to  the  gold-bearing  shoulders  of  a  colos 
sus,  supported  by  the  members  of  a  pigmy  race.  This 
cultivated  meanness  kept  the  Jews  in  devotional  hun 
ger  through  fear  of  devouring  the  god  of  their  ador 
ation,  so  that  they  soon  became  the  jackals  of  the 
human  race,  while  the}r  commanded  the  lion  resources 
of  kings.  Abou  Ben  Isaacs  was  a  notable  exception 
to  the  servile  degradation  of  his  race,  and  was  en 
abled  to  bequeath  from  the  impress  of  his  Arabian 
wife,  children  with  mental  aad  physical  beauty  that 
realized  from  corresponding  affection,  earthly  impres- 
sion^  of  immortality. 

"  He,  in  tracing  the  cause  of  ancestral  disasters  to 
the  arbitrary  substitution  of  gold  as  a  currency  for  the 
displacement  of  natural  affection,  labored  that  his  ex 
ample  might  wean,  not  only  his  own  people,  but  all 
mankind  from  the  delusory  greed  for  gold.  In  the 
estimation  of  his  people  this  apostasy  had  been  im- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA. 


247 


parted  from  his  marriage,  and  he  was  condemned  as 
an  outlaw  from  his  religion,  and  his  example  was 
scouted  as  an  infidel  reflection  upon  their  thrift  But 
they  did  not  disdain  to  use  his  philanthropic  influence 
for  their  protection,  notwithstanding  his  open  repudia 
tion  of  their  solicitations  for  him  to  become  a  party  to 
their  habits  of  usury.  But  when  his  descendants  lost 
caste  with  the  successor  of  the  Abassidian  dynasty, 
the  Hebrews  outvied  the  Moslems  in  the  revilemeiit  of 
the  "mongrel"  cause  of  their  apostasy. 

"The  most  Authentic  Eelation  that  we  have  of  the  first 
discovery  of  the  smelting  art  of  separating  gold  from 
its  ore  and  fashioning  it  into  vessels,  is  derived  from 
the  recorded  traditions  of  the  Chinese.  The  version 
we  are  about  to  quote  states  that  the  Chm-tangs,  or 
Changs,  a  Mongolian  mountain  tribe,  at  an  early  date 
discovered  the  method  of  reducing  gold  from  its  ore 
and  beating  it  into  untensil  forms,  and  the  history  ot 
its  introduction  by  them  was  prophetic  of  its  after  in 
fluence  as  an  equivalent  for  exchange.  As  it  illustrates 
the  powerful  sway  it  has  gained  in  verification  of  its 
first  influence  in  use  with  the  simple  mountaineers,  it 
will  prove  a  fitting  prototype  example  to  show  the 
natural  reason  of  its  adoption  by  the  Israelites  as  a 
representative  idol  for  the  worship  of  their  god.  The 
Chin-tangs,  in  accordance  with  the  natural  impres 
sions  regulating  the  disposal  of  material  benefactions 
in  rudimentary  inception  assumed  the  kindly  superi 
ority  of  patrons  in  bestowing  their  inventive  pro 
ducts.  . 

"  As  their  labors  were  in  part  prompted  with  the  ob 
ject  of  bestowal  in  view,  they  gave  a  zest  to  desire  for 
improvement,  so  that  they  soon  became  skillful  in  the 
devisement  of  designs  to  please.  At  first  the  kind- 
hearted  mountaineers,  with  unselfish  zeal,  congratula 
ted  themselves  upon  their  ability  to  supply  their  low 
land  neighbors'  wants  with  a  more  durable  material 
than  their  brittle  pottery,  and  were  never  happier  than 
when  engaged  in  these  benevolent  avocations. 

"But  soon,  from  thankful  recipients  the  lowlanders 


'248  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

became  importunate  supplicants,  and  then  in  sequence 
merged  into  an  arbitrary  course  of  dictation.  This, 
instead  of  abating  the  inventive  mountaineers'  desire  to 
please,  they  attributed  it  to  a  thankful  appreciation  of 
their  works,  and  redoubled  their  efforts  to  supply  the 
increased  demand.  Gradually  they  became  enlight 
ened,  when  they  found  that  the  recipients  of  Iheir  fa 
vors  no  longer  furnished  them  with  the  means  of  sub 
sistence  in  exchange  for  their  mechanical  productions. 
Although  they  were  at  first  inclined  to  attribute  the 
neglect  to  a  lack  of  means,  they  were  obliged  to  es 
tablish  a  scale  of  equivalents,  as  they  had  no  time  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  for  their  support.  By  this 
plan,  they  also  avoided  censure  on  the  score  of  par 
tiality  in  the  disposal  of  their  vessels  and  utensils. 
But,  when  the  demand  exceeded  the  supply  of  mate 
rial,  the  grateful  pleasure  derived  from  their  employ 
ment  was  turned  into  bitterness  from  the  arrogant  as 
sumption  of  fiefry  by  a  lowland  patriarch  who  had  re 
ceived  the  first  presents  from  the  kindly  disposed  high- 
landers.  The  lowland  chief,  by  construing  the  motive 
for  the  bestowal  of  these  gifts,  into  an  acknowledge 
ment  of  tribute,  assumed  the  claims  of  suzerainty,  and 
the  right  of  control  over  the  resources  and  labors  of 
his  benefactors.  This,  the  first  recorded  act  of  diplo 
matic  pretext  which  has  reached  us,  gave  birth  in  kind 
to  legal  chicanery  and  argumentative  woes  which  have 
followed  in  the  train  of  multiplication  to  desolate  the 
earth  and  render  abortive  the  kindly  inspirations  of 
grateful  confidence. 

"  The  unreasonable  and  audacious  demand,  instead 
of  exciting  revengeful  anger,  caused  grief  in  the  hearts 
of  the  willing  servitors.  But  being  unable  to  comply 
with  the  exact  stipulations  within  the  given  time,  the 
impost  was  increased  as  a  penalty  of  default.  Finding 
that  pliant  subserviency  encouraged  imposition  and 
insolence  on  the  part  of  their  whilom  beggars,  whose 
greed  they  had  unrioiuted  with  gifts  of  unselfish  kind 
ness;  they  replied  to  the  lowland  chiefs'  threats  of 
invasion  with  a  determined  spirit  of  resistance,  but 
still  with  the  hope  of  conciliating  the  would-be  op 
pressor,  labored  to  fulfill  his  demands.  Still,  it  ap- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN  SUMATRA.  249 

pears,  that   the  baseness   of   extortionate   oppression 
was  as  vindictively  stupid  in  inception  as  in  the  more 
matured   reflections  of  multiplication  of   the    present 
day,  for  the  Chin-tangs  were  surprised  while  laboring 
in   the  mines  for  the   material  means  of  effecting  a 
compromise  for  the  restoration  of    "friendship"— the 
first  recorded   instance  of  the  use  of  this  word  in  its 
marketable  sense      Although  taken   at  disadvantage, 
they   made    a   determined  resistance,    causing    their 
"foes'3  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat,   but   their  unguarded 
families  had  been  made    prisoners  and   carried    into 
captivity  by  these  lowland  pioneers  in  the  warful  art 
of  enslaving  benefactors.     Astounded  with  grief  when 
they  found  their  homes  desolated  by  the  recipients  of 
their  first  benefactions,  but  still  pure  in  the  integrity 
of  intention,    notwithstanding   their   great   and    just 
cause  for  retributive  reprisal,  they  sent  a  messenger  to 
1  treat'  for  the  restoration  of  their  families,  promising 
recompense  in  addition  to    the    stipulated   demand,  if 
sufficient  time  was  allowed  for  the  reasonable  accom 
plishment  of  their  labor.     But  all  their  overtures  were 
rejected;  the  germ  of  rapacity  having   taken  root,  its 
weedy  luxuriance  flourished  in  the   debris  of   wanton 
ruin  that  yielded  no  hope  for  sustenance   but   repro 
duction  in  kind.     As  with  the  more  matured  arrogance 
of  modern  times,  self-stimulated  by  ingratitude,  con 
cessions  on  the  part  of  the  injured  only  provoked  an 
increase  of  barbarity,    the  invaders    declaring  that  it 
was  their  intention  to  hold  the  captives   in    bondage 
until  the  'ransom3  had  been  paid  to  the  last  and  least 
of  the  stipulated  utensils. 

"Inconsolable  from  the  obdurate  determination  of 
their  'enemies,'  who  addtcl  insult  with  the  threatened 
degradation  of  their  families  to  the  most  servile  labor; 
the  Chin-tangs  bethought  themselves,  in  consultation, 
of  every  peaceable  temptation  that  could  be  offered 
for  the  redemption  of  their  'loved'  ones  from  captivity. 
But  all  their  advances  were  met  with  insolent  indig 
nities,  until  in  the  extremity  of  their  forlorn  grief  an 
inborn  strength  of  determination  was  aroused  for  the 
reprisal  of  all  that  endeared  them  to  life.  In  the  pro 
cess  of  maturing  their  plans,  they  called  in  aid  their 


11 


250  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

inventive  powers  which  had  been  the  cause  of  their 
woes,  and  improved  upon  the  clubs  of  their  foes  by 
improvising  the  bow,  arrow  and  javelin,  by  which  an 
assault  could  be  made  out  of  harm's  way,  as  the  only 
missile  weapons  of  their  enemies  were  fragments  of 
stone.  By  a  night  surprise,  although  they  numbered 
less  than  a  fourth  of  their  enemy's  numerical  strength, 
they  recovered  their  families  and  vessels  of  gold  from 
the  ungrateful  belligerents,  and  taught  them  a  lesson 
of  respect  for  inventive  talent  in  peaceful  attainment 
that  could  be  made  all-powerful  in  war.  But  they 
did  not  neglect  to  erect  a  fortified  enclosure  for  the 
future  protection  of  their  families. 

"  The  lowlanders,  humbled  by  the  righteous  strength 
of  the  Chin-tangs,  were  thereafter  obliged  to  gratify 
their  acquisitive  desire  for  golden  utensils  with  an 
equivalent  exchange  of  commodities.  Gradually,  as 
the  sparseness  of  gold  and  silver  became  known,  they 
began  to  assume  a  relative  value,  and  in  degree'  with 
their  rarity  were  termed  precious. 

"  In  the  Narative  Relation  of  Abou  Ben  Isaacs'  family 
influence  for  good,  our  surprise  and  wonder  is  excited 
for  the  discovery  of  the  potent  cause  that  l«d  him  to 
break  loose  from  the  trammels  of  customs  and  habits, 
and  ordinance  usages  so  long  held  sacred  by  his  peo 
ple.  But  with  the  analysis  of  thought,  the  evidence 
of  the  exampled  impression  transmitted  bespeaks  his 
recognition  of  unselfish  affection  as  the  sole  source 
from  which  happiness  can  be  realized  here,  or  hope 
for  its  extension  as  an  adjunct  of  revivication  for  vital 
or  sentient  renewal.  The  Chin  tang  appendix  will 
afford  an  apt  revelation  of  the  initial  impression  of  the 
golden  decalogue  imparted  from  the  land  of  Pison, 
that  led  to  the  worship  of  the  golden  calf  and  its  coin 
memorials  of  the  present  day,  with  significant  escutch 
eon  inscription,  In  (this)  God  we  trust. 

"Notwithstanding  it  may  prove  a  sad  and  repulsive 
resource  t:>  contrast  the  fanatical  passions  of  woman, 
when  excited,  with  the  leniency  of  a  tigress  suffering 
from  hunger  and  thirst,  it  will  serve  to  show  the  mul- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN    SUMATRA.  251 

tiplied  sectarian  spirit  of  Cain  derived  from  the  indi 
gestible  stimulus  imparted  to  the  soul  (stomach— Prov. 
6-30)  of  Eve  from  the  arrack  of  transgression .  Also 
the  transmitted  reason  of  woman's  natural  abhorrence 
of  all  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  her  hopeless 
degradation  when  subject  to  their  influence. 


"  Amaruthia,  Queen  of  Antioch,  and  a  partizan  of 
Saint  George  of  Cappadocia,  possessed  an  unrelent 
ing  disposition,  and  passions  which  had  been  cultivated 
by  debaucheries  of  the  most  infamous  description. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  the  apparent  incompatibility  of 
her  habits  with  religious  pretension,  Catherine  Medi- 
cis,  Henry  VIII,  or  Philip  the  Second,  were,  in  com 
parison  with  her,  the  personifications  of  toleration  and 
mildness  On  one  occasion,  when  a  father  success 
fully  contended,  naked  and  unarmed,  with  lions  in  the 
amphitheatre  for  the  protection  of  his  children,  and 
knelt,  at  the  close  of  each  encounter,  covered  with 
blood,  in  supplication  for  the  lives  of  his  children,  re 
gardless  of  self,  while  others  turned  with  tears  from 
witnessing  the  agony  of  his  despairing  love  and  self- 
devotion,  she  repulsed  him  with  revilings;  then  or 
dered  that  his  left  arm  should  be  bound  to  his  body, 
and  in  that  almost  defenceless  plight — with  his  lacer 
ated  wounds  gaping  and  bleeding  in  silent  petition  for 
the  objects  of  his  love — that  he  should  be  subjected  to 
a  third  encounter  with  a  tigress  from  the  jungles  of 
India.  This  representative  of  the  queen's  untrani- 
meled  passions,  goaded  and  starved  to  hungry  fury, 
sprang  into  the  arena,  with  tail  curving  and  swaying, 
while  her  flesh  quivered  with  the  fierce  current  of  im 
patient  desire.  Half  crouching  in  the  attitude  best 
suited  for  the  concentration  of  nervous  power,  her  eyes 
measured  with  instinctive  calculation  the  force  required 
to  reach  and  overcome  her  intended  victim.  Tortured 
to  desperation  with  the  absorbing  emotions  of  the 
fearful  fate  awaiting  his  children,  who  were  alone  the 
objects  of  thought  in  the  extremity  of  his  love,  his 
eyes  concentrated  their  full  force  of  determined  will 
upon  those  of  his  foe. 


252  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

"  Once  encountered,  they  were  held  spell-bound  by 
the  stronger  retractive  power  of  his  affectionate  en 
ergy,  until  gradually  the  incarnate  fierceness  of  the 
tigress  began  to  ebb;  then,  with  the  inward  current 
of  savage  hunger,  the  outward  of  enervation's  flaccid 
sway  set  in.  Trembling  in  the  leash  of  a  controlling 
spirit,  her  eyes  blinked  with  unavailing  efforts  to  break 
the  spell.  Then,  drawn  by  quick  perception,  the 
father— with  his  children  dazed  with  fear— approached 
the  tigress  to  make  his  conquest  sure  with  the  seal  of 
touch. 

'  The  vast  concourse,  gathered  to  witness  a  scene  of 
bloodthirsty  cruelty,  reduced  with  the  tigress  to  the 
ruling  sway  of  affection,  looked  upon  the  wonderful 
enactment  in  mazed  silence,  feeling  within  themselves 
the  unaccountable  agency  that  had  disarmed  her  mur 
derous  teeth  and  claws.  Within  reach,  the  head  of 
the  fierce  beast  bowed  in  passive  submission  to  the 
hand  that  caressed  with  pleading  control  for  unwonted 
tender  mercy  denied  by  a  woman  and  mother.  Lead 
ing  the  disinfuriate  tigress,  supported  on  either  side 
by  the  confiding  arms  of  his  reassured  children,  be 
neath  the  canopied  arcress  (throne)  of  Queen  Ama- 
ruthia,  he  again  bowed,  pleading,  not  for  himself  or 
children,  but  with  disdainful  reflection,  that  his  sub 
dued  charge  might  have  other  food  for  the  assuage 
ment  of  her  famishing  hunger  than  the  bodies  of  his 
children,  which  she  had  spared  from  sympathy  for  his 
affection.  Restored  to  herself  by  this  ironical  sarcasm, 
the  face  of  Amaruthia  became  scarlet  with  rage! 
Thrice  she  attempted  to  give  voice  to  her  beckoned 
commands  directed  to  the  executioners  of  the  arena. 
Failing  in  her  will  to  give  utterance  to  her  commands, 
she  clutched  frantically  her  throat,  and  with  swallow 
ing  gasps  gave  a  choking,  gurgling  cry,  then,  with  a 
spasmodic  stretch  of  her  limbs,  fell  back  into  the  arms 
of  her  attendants  apparently  lifeless.  As  ever  with 
the  unthinking  herd,"  when  subject  to  the  sudden  im 
pression  of  emotional  excitement  from  sensational  en 
actments  beyond  the  limits  of  their  comprehension, 
the  assembled  multitude  gazed  with  lips  agape,  direct 
ing  their  wonder-dazed  eyes  first  to  the  group  in  the 


M.    SHAWTINB'CH   IN   SUMATRA.  253 

arena,  then  to  those  supporting  the  queen,  until  a 
demagogue,  who  had  been  long  waiting  in  watchful 
search  for  an  opportunity  to  display  his  factious  elo 
quence,  gained  their  ears'  attention. 

"A  scene  so  pregnant  with  marvelous  incident,  was 
of  itself  sufficient  to  suggest  miraculous  interposition 
and  retribution,  to  the  hoodwinked  fanaticism    of  the 
age.     In  language  clothed  with  anathemic   invective, 
cultivated  as  a  religious  exercise,  in  waiting  for  a  vent- 
ful  occasion,  like  the  then   present,    to  give   it   voice, 
Gulosputa  inveighed  against  the  tyranny  of  the  queen- 
supposing   her    dead — and  the    cruel    bigotry   of   the 
Christoseptarch  who  had  incited  her  to    persecution. 
"The  crowd  listened, when  aroused  from  their  stupor, 
with  acclamations  peculiar  to    the    leveling   propensi 
ties  of  the  democratic  element,  when  for  the  moment 
they  feel  themselves  liberated  from  the  restraints    of 
ruling  power,  forgetful  that  the  speaker  himself   was 
in  the  morning    a   sycophantic   follower   of  the    arch- 
priest.     Encouraged  by  the  sound  of  associate  voices 
of  selfish  insticct  in  human  array,  the    usual    demand 
was  made  for  a  bloody  sacrifice  in  revengeful   reprisal 
for  the  persecution  that  he,  when  in  favor  of  the  arch- 
priest,  had  promoted  as  a  willing  abettor.     While  the 
demagogue  was  haranguing  the  insensate  democracy, 
the  father,  in  partial  swoon,  lay  half  supported  by  the 
tigress  in  a  reclining  position;  her  natural  ferocity,  hav 
ing  been  subdued  by  the  weakness  of  starvation,  proved 
more  appeasable  tlian  the  rancorous  hate  of  fanaticism. 
When  the   friends  of  the  intended   martyrs  saw   the 
queen  struck  down  by  her    own   fierce  passions,  they 
hastened  with  pitying  sympathy   to  give  the  father's 
wounds  the  attention  they  required.     But   thoughtful 
in  his  extremity,  he  would  not  receive  their   aid   until 
he  had  first  supplied  the  food  requirements   of  the   ti 
gress,  then  he  submitted  to  have  his  wounds   washed 
and  bandaged.     While  supported  by   his    friends,   in 
readiness  to  leave  the  arena,  and  the  tigress  still   sub 
dued  was  held  in  charge  by  the  children,  the  cry  was 
raised:  'The  priest,  the  queen,  hurl  them  into  the  are 
na,  loose  the  tigress!'     Then,  calmly,  Lamplucis,   the 
'apostate'  father,  raised  himself  from  the  support  of 


254  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

his  friends — who,  with  the  tigress,  and  his  children 
embracing  her  neck  upon  either  side,  formed  a  re 
markable  group,  suitable  to  the  occasion— turned  his 
body,  ghastly  with  blood-stained  bandages  and  un 
covered  lacerations,  and  motioned  the  congregated 
multitude  to  silence.  When  the  vengeful  swarm  had 
ceased  to  howl,  the  sight  of  his  pale  visage,  and  jag 
ged  protrusion  of  his  wounds,  that  spoke  in  bloody 
appeal  from  beneath  their  bandages,  banished  with 
sight  sensation  the  contagious  commotion  caught  from 
their  newly  incited  ravenous  scent. 

"  For  a  few  moments  Lainplucis  scanned  with  scorn 
the  vacant  leaseholds  of  mortality,  then  waved  with 
his  hand  Gulosputa's  speech  to  silence.  When  expec 
tation,  in  waiting  for  some  new  source  of  impulsive 
excitement,  had  imposed  a  breathless  hush,  he  ques 
tioned,  with  a  voice  energetic  in  its  weakness — 

"  '  Was  it  not  enough  that  37ou  looked  calmly  on  in 
gratified  silence  to  see  me  unarmed  oppose  my  naked 
body  for  the  protection  of  my  children,  thrice  repeated, 
against  the  king  of  beasts  ?  and  when  they  were  tongue- 
less  subdued,  heard  your  queen  in  kind,  in  answer  to 
my  pleading  petition  for  the  lives  of  my  children,  or 
der  unrebuked  a  fiercer  foe,  whose  hungered  appetites 
were  judged  past  control  !  Then  you  saw  me  crippled 
of  an  arm,  with  my  strength  ebbing,  without  the  heart 
or  courage  to  second  my  petition,  with  your  manly 
thousands  to  redeem  me  and  mine,  from  the  insatiate 
fury  of  a  woman  who  had  found  the  lion's  rage  and 
strength  too  weak  to  revenge  the  hate  of  her  own 
fiercer  passions.  But  now  that  she  is  seemingly  dead, 
from  the  reaction  of  her  own  uncontrolled  rage,  you 
must  needs  revolt  against  yourselves,  and  with  canni 
bal  craving  seek  the  blood  of  your  kind!  Shame  upon 
you,  fealless  ingrates,  that  in  your  selfish  forgetfulness 
of  others  forget  yourselves  !  Have  you  no  eyes  for  the 
inward  heed  of  reflection  when  you  see  the  starved 
tigress  won  from  her  natural  instincts  to  become  sub 
missive  to  kindly  direction  ?  Hence  to  your  dens,  and 
there  give  thought  for  meditation's  choice,  whether 
there  is  in  you  worth  sufficient  to  merit  the  name  of 
soul  or  mind,  or  instinct  of  the  tigress,  which  has 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN   SUMATRA.  255 

proved  its  susceptibility  to  the  influence  of  kindly  re^ 
clamation!  Or  if  heedless  and  headless  you  will  win 
destruction,  follow  the  aimless  lead  of  Gulosputa, 
whose  ambition  would  rule,  and  yet  is  unable  to  com 
mand  itself.' 

"  The  self-rescued  apostate,  with  this  pungent  but 
truthful  apostrophe  to  the  bewildered  slaves  of  pas 
sion,  was  supported  out  of  the  arena  unopposed,  fol 
lowed  by  his  children,  the  embrace  of  whose  arms  led 
in  grateful  triumph  the  willing  pledge  of  their  re 
demption,  and  were  conducted  to  the  nearest  house 
hold  asylum  of  affection.  The  'public'  esteeming 
his  wonderful  preservation  as  miraculous,  the  tigress, 
in  his  own  or  children's  charge,  was  openly  entertained, 
and  proved  faithful  to  the  confidence  reposed  in  her 
sagacity.  Larnplucis,  in  bold  self-reliance,  although 
rendering  himself  obnoxious  to  the  religious  adherents 
of  the  Christoseptarch,  from  their  mutual  self-sacrific 
ing  manifestations  of  an  enduring  affection,  remained 
unmolested,  and  his  example  gained  during  his  life 
time  a  protective  respect  for  his  adherents. 

"  Queen  Amaruthia,  who  never  fully  recovered  from 
the  shock  of  her  hysterical  rage,  exclaimed,  when  dy 
ing,  as  she  received  from  the  Christoseptarch  the 
ordinance  rites  of  extreme  unction,  '  More,  still  more! 
it  is  not  enough! ' 

"  The  prophetic  forecast  of  Gulosputa's  and  partisan 
laborers'  career  by  Lamplucis,  was  fully  verified,  as  in 
numberless  instances  before  and  since,  demonstrat 
ing  clearly,  with  like  futile  multiplications,  the  neces 
sity  of  an  exampled  alliance  of  affection  for  holding  in 
subjection,  for  kindly  manifestation,  the  selfish  vaga 
ries  of  instinct  devoted  to  the  pendu  queue  ordinance, 
worship  and  pat-riot-ism  expressed  by  the  emotional 
sensations  of  Kan  Avan's  material  caudality,  after  it 
had  been  subjected  to  the  unregenerated  habits  of  a 
sectarian  civilization. 

"  The  leading  principle  of  Gulosputic  power  for  the 
control  of  the  laboring  classes  can  be  easily  traced  from 
the  omnivorous  habits  provoked  from  the  indigestible 
result  of  Eve's  indulgence  in  the  arrack  toddy  of  the 
cocoa  stem,  that  revealed  the  fact[of  procreative  power 


256  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

without  a  knowledge  of  its  source.  If  we  trace  from 
cause  to  effect  the  maternal  influence  that  rules  the 
habits  of  the  laboring  class  of  the  present  day,  we 
cannot  for  a  moment  doubt  that  they  received  their 
first  impressions  from  the  fundamental  arsenal  of  the 
stomach,  the  proverbial  soul  source  of  Biblical  direc 
tion.  In  the  impression  conveyed  by  Zera  and  her 
sisters,  we  can  realize  a  beneficent  result  without  the 
testimony  of  a  written  record.  Of  Amaru  thias  we 
have  the  curse  of  multiplication  in  kind,  but  fortu 
nately  curtailed  in  its  power  of  full  verification. 

"  The  influence  imparted  from  the  discovery  of  gold 
by  the  Chin-tangs  to  the  lowlanders  has  been  multi 
plied  to  the  degree  of  ascendancy  as  a  source  for  the 
luxurious  reimpression  of  the  original  effect  of  the 
Serpent's  toddy  as  a  zest  for  appetite,  and  the  ordi 
nance  display  of  sectarian  rites  of  worship  for  the 
stomach's  (soul's)  relief  from  the  mania-potu  incanta 
tions  that  inaugurated  Belteshazzar's  waking  dream. 
The  ram  who  bears  the  rattling  gourd,  or  bell,  as 
leader  of  the  flock,  in  multiplication's  travesty,  produces 
the  general  bedecked  in  the  spangled  panoply  of  war, 
in  divergence  ready  to  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  Cain's 
selfishness  his  hecatomb  of  brotherly  victims  at  the 
beck  of  queens  who  offer  premiums  for  the  litter-ary 
production  of  triplets  to  subserve  in  the  same  role  for 
soil  investment.  If  you  can,  by  any  reasonable  de 
monstration,  show  why  a  life  devoted  to  the  ordinance 
rites  of  war  and  religion,  impressed  upon  Cain  from 
the  indigestible  transgression  of  his  mother,  is  prefer 
able  to  the  tail  and  dress  economy  of  the  Gibbons, 
which  is  sufficient  for  the  full  realization  of  content 
ment,  we  will  yield  to  your  direction. 

"The  reply  of  the  Jew,  Caab  Ebu  Al  Ashraf,  who 
assisted  Mohammed  in  the  composition  of  the  Koran, 
shows  how  well  versed  he  was  in  the  essentials  required 
as  a  foundation  for  the  ordinance  rites  of  a  new  re 
ligion.  When  as  an  acolyte  scribe,  the  would-be 
prophet  expostulated  with  him  for  introducing  puerile 
absurdities  into  the  text  of  the  premised  revelations; 
he  answered,  '  You  must  not  reject  the  successful 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        257 

means  employed  by  the  exemplars  of  the  religion  you 
wish  to  imitate.  For  Moses  and  his  successors  of  the 
old  and  new  testaments  placed  more  reliance  upon 
ridiculous  ritual  observances  that  baffled  explanation, 
than  on  those  that  would  lead  the  thoughtful  to  ques 
tion  from  reason  the  infallibility  of  a  God  who  would 
place  his  will  in  their  charge  for  dispensation.  For, 
as  a  prophet,  you  are  not  expected  to  offer  material 
evidence  as  a  test  of  your  authority.  With  the  ex- 
ampled  experience  derived  from  the  precept  creeds,  it 
would  prove  a  suicide  of  stupidity  for  your  prophetic 
aspirations,  if  you  should  neglect  to  adopt  a  style  of 
humility  adapted  to  the  habits  of  the  people  you  wish 
to  convert.  But,  as  you  cannot  recreate  yourself  for 
a  new  birth,  with  lowly  attractions  suitable  for  the 
impression  of  the  wise  men  of  your  tribes  of  a  heaven- 
born  inspiration;  you  must  involve  yourself  in  the 
mysteries  of  doubtful  language,  or  of  assumption,  as, 
'  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  these  words  of  my  mouth 
are  spoken  to  you  with  the  simplicity  of  a  child  un 
born  and  unquickened  with  the  soul  of  its  mother,  so 
that  you  may  understand  and  be  saved  from  the  wrath 
to  come  !'  These  touches  of  inspiration  will  prove 
bones  for  dogmatic  contention,  with  your  priestly  ex 
pounders  and  commentators,  who  will  hold  the  atten 
tion  of  worshiping  devotees  with  words,  so  that  they 
will  not  question  the  divine  authority  of  your  mission. 
"Although  Mahommed  successfully  followed  the 
advice  of  Al  Ashraf,  and  in  the  first  glow  of  grateful 
remembrance  bestowed  upon  the  sacred  stone  the 
pre-cognomen,  thus  virtually  acknowledging  Al  Caaba 
as  the  source  of  his  inspiration:  he  found  it  necessary 
to  silence  his  tongue,  which  had  gained  the  support  of 
the  Koreish,  or  nobility,  by  denouncing  the  aid  he  had 
rendered  the  embryotic  prophet  in  devising  a  creed  of 
gospel  divinity  to  attract  and  puzzle  the  thoughtless  stu 
pidity  of  worshiping  devotees  The  assassination  of 
Al  Caaba  added  to  rather  than  diminished  the  fanati 
cal  furor  of  the  nucleus  followers  of  Mahommed,  not 
withstanding  the  truth  of  the  Jew's  assertions  was 
patent  to  all;  but,  as  with  Judas,  his  act  of  denun 
ciation  concentrated  the  hatred  of  the  'tntv  believers' 


258  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

?n  M>homrned's  divine  inspiration  against  his  race. 
Yet,  in  defiance  of  these  Cain-like  demonstrations  of 
sectarian  creed  re-enactments,  the  susceptibility  to  self- 
imposition  is  constantly  on  the  increase,  pari  passu 
with  the  evidences  of  physical  degeneration.  How 
true,  in  a  literal  sense,  was  the  Koranic  creed  axiom, 
*'If  we  suffer  we  shall  reign  with  him.'  For  the  co 
incident  exposition  of  Al  Caab's  relation  with  Mahom- 
med,  I  will  refer  you  to  the  transfer  of  the  Gibbons 
Moocl-ee's  tail,  by  inoculation,  to  the  regenerated  cau- 
dality  of  San-kee,  and  the  inadvertency  of  our  adapta 
tion  of  its  muscular  components  with  those  of  the  re 
cipients  for  the  exact  expression  of  his  brain  emana 
tions,  which  causes  a  lack  of  coherency  in  act  demon 
stration  by  the  regenerated  organ.  This  obliquity  of 
correspondence  with  brain  intention,  in  pantomimic 
gesticulation,  is  a  never-ending  source  of  amusement 
to  his  tail-following  congregations,  but  to  Mood-ee  it 
'^  a  co  stant  reminder  of  his  lost  condition,  expres 
sive  in  effect  of  Adam's  bereavement,  and  reliance 
upon  the  old  Serpent's  tail  (tale)  as  an  exponent  of 
truth. 

"  You  will  also  be  able  to  perceive  the  necessity  of 
a  nice  adaptation  of  missionary  labor  for  the  congeni- 
t°l  reproduction  of  tailful  impressions,  that,  in  their 
:  egenerated  fulfillment,  they  may  correspond  with 
brain  emotions  for  the  revival  of  orarg  contentment 
founded  upon  the  caudal  equation  of  enough,  as  de 
monstrated  by  Bridget  v.s-.  San-kee.  Our  classification 
of  tails  for  civilized  adjustment  is  founded  upon  the 
natural  predisposition  of  faith  upon  the  influence  of 
habits  and  customs;  but  as  you  have  adopted  ours,  a 
knowledge  of  requirements  will  soon  initiate  your  dis 
cernment  into  the  method  of  adaptation.  So  I  will  now 
recommend  you  to  matriculate  with  the  alrna  mater  of 
your  own  judgment." 

*  Probably  introduced  as  a  sarcasm  by  Al  Caab 


M.  SHAWTINBACH  IN  SUMATRA.        259 

SAAR  SOONG,  October,  1878. 
DEAR  MARVEL: 

From  the  negative  and  positive  proof  illustra 
tions  adduced  in  Doctor  Olu  Babi's  concluding  Chata, 
you  will  perceive  that  the  old  Serpent's  tongue  sub 
stitution  for  the  truthful  index  of  tail  contentment  was 
the  forked  beginning  of  hypocrisy  and  lying  decep 
tions  induced  from  indulgence  that  sought  conceal 
ment.  Also,  that  the  curse  of  multiplication  was  im 
posed  from  fore-ordination  of  the  necessity  of  devising 
subterfuge  word-pretexts  for  the  faith  representation 
of  mysterious  deviations  from  the  source  of  fact  reali 
zation.  For  your  better  appreciation  of  the  alleged 
facts,  I  will  refer  you  to  the  faith  transubstantiation 
I  am  about  to  realize  in  my  union  with  Bridget. 
Should  there  arise  from  my  preferment  to  become  the 
father  of  a  New  Birth  generation,  a  millenium  endow 
ment  that  in  assimilation  reflects  the  patriarchal  sacri 
fice,  I  shall  as  son  in  triune  evolvement  be  held  by 
posterity  as  the  true  Me-sire. 

Although  Bridget's  tail  cannot,  in  descriptive  style, 
be  classed  as  one  to  the  manor  or  manner  born,  it  pos 
sesses  in  the  contentful  economy  of  headdevisement  far 
greater  capacity  for  the  expression  of  useful  and  truth 
ful  traits,  for  the  indication  of  enough,  than  the 
tongue,  which  was  improvised  by  the  old  Serpent  as  a 
substitute  for  the  prophetic  development  of  the  curse 
multiplication.  Besides,  from  its  self-possessed  re 
sources  of  enjoyment,  if  it  imparts  to  me  the  power 
of  transmitting  in  exampled  affection,  the  immaculate 
impression  of  its  patriarchical  sacrifice  of  contentment 
with  enough  for  healthy  satisfaction,  our  triune  pos 
terity  will  inherit  a  united  tailacy  for  truthful  expres 
sion,  which  in  its  simplicity  will  require  none  of  the 
deceptions  of  art  in  speech  or  act  for  concealment. 
Then,  in  the  happy  outflow  of  their  regenerated  spirit 
of  reciprocation,  void  of  offense  from  the  ordinance 
rites  of  worshipful  sectarianism,  they  will  prefer  each 
the  other's  sacrifice  as  the  source  of  their  own  united 
enjoyment.  To  love  and  be  loved,  without  a  preying 
source  of  discontent,  will  reflect  the  impression  of  a 
common  birth,  in  freedom  from  envy  and  selfish  desire 


260  INVESTIGATIONS   AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

to  possess  more  than  enough  to  suffice  for  their  soils, 
healthy  and  loving  assimilation.  "With  the  New  Birth 
economy  imparted  from  the  regenerated  impressions 
of  the  Patriarchal  tailacy,  the  hirsute  endowment  will 
be  restored  in  its  original  purity,  to  free  the  body  from 
the  encumbrances  of  soil-accumulating  fashions  of  ar 
tificial  devisement.  Then,  pure  in  spirit  and  person 
from  a  free  ventilation  the  rag  and  filth  emblems  of 
repulsive  poverty  will  be  banished  from  view,  as  the 
caste  reflections  of  misery. 

How  futile  are  all  our  finite  endeavors  to  grasp 
with  our  bereaved  comprehension  the  wonderful  effi 
cacy  of  renewed  tail  grace  for  the  restoration  of  happy 
contentment  ?  and  how  simple  and  effectual  the  means! 
Our  only  resource  for  an  approximate  realization  of  the 
illimitable  benefits  to  be  derived  from  tail  regenera 
tion,  and  its  concomitant  hirsute  vestment  for  cleanly 
protection  from  the  vicissitudes  of  climate,  is,  from 
the  contrast  afforded  by  experience  of  the  mechanical 
devices  of  invention,  which  have  been  devised  to  sup 
ply  its  loss  Then,  if  in  addition,  we  take  into  account 
the  wear  and  tear  of  ordinance  rites  upon  materialism, 
for  the  support  of  faith  as  the  means  of  insurance  for 
the  soil's  resurrection  and  tail  rehabilitation,  we  shall 
have  in  gross  an  idea  of  the  vast  relief  that  will  be 
afforded  by  the  reconversion  of  our  posterity  into  the 
likeness  of  their  patriarchal  redeemer. 

If  in  the  perfection  of  renewal,  with  a  joint  equi 
librium  established  between  head,  stomach,  (soul),  and 
tail  for  regulating  the  mutual  requirements  of  each  in 
relation  to  the  other  for  happy  requital,  a  review  of  the 
past  of  our  antecedents  can  be  effected,  great  will  be 
their  gratitude  to  the  immaculate  source  of  their  tran- 
substantiation.  If  the  tablet  records  of  Con-fuse-us, 
Joss-hua  and  Son,  are  to  be  relied  upon  as  emanations 
from  their  divine  authority,  the  direct  union  of  the 
memorial  tail  to  the  Chinese  head  indicates  in  pro 
phetic  forecast  the  curse  of  multiplication  which  has 
been  the  cause  of  their  degeneration.  In  like  moni 
tion  the  memorial  compression  of  their  female  chil 
dren's  feet  is  for  the  repentant  commemoration  of  the 
wo-rang's  quadrumanal  activity  prompted  by  her  curi- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN    SUMATRA.  261 

ous  desire  to  taste  the  forbidden  fruit,  after  she  caused 
her  orang  mate  to  test  its  properties  in  verification  of 
their  lord  and  master's  truthfulness.  This  crippling 
ordinance  rite  was  evidently  instituted  as  an  additional 
reminder  of  her  ingratitude  to  the  Orang,  who  had 
sacrificed  a  portion  of  his  tail  for  her  creation ,  as  well 
as  a  penance  check  upon  the  gossiping  predisposition 
she  had  cultivated  with  the  old  Serpent  in  the  garden 
of  Fun-Choo-Foo.  It  is  also  emblematical,  in  a  sym 
bolical  sense,  of  their  irredeemable  condition,  as  by 
being  deprived  of  three-fifths  of  their  prehensile 
power,  the  "  mene  mene  tekel"  balance  of  the  scale  to 
lay  hold  of  the  promises  of  salvation  they  have  kicked, 
and  are  no  longer  considered  eligible  as  candidates  for 
intercession  at  the  throne  of  grace. 

Noiv,  My  Dear  Marvel,  if  You  Will  Consult  the  tab 
lets  of  your  experience,  I  am  certain  that  you  will 
acknowledge  a  lonely  void  which  has  baffled  all  your 
endeavors  to  fill  with'  the  enduring  impressions  of  an 
affection  that  in  the  least  degree  responds  in  measure 
with  your  hopeful  expectations.  Even  with  your  vast 
knowledge,  which  has  been  recompensed  not  only  with 
hereditary  titles  of  your  family,  but,  with  medallic 
honors  too  numerous  for  description,  and  after  the 
achievement  of  the  High  Grand  Sachem-ship  of  all 
the  memorial  tribes  of  extinct  Ked-men,  have  received 
the  prefix  of  Most  Reverend  Druid,  etc.,  etc.,  etc., 
etc.,  and  in  culmination  of  worldly  honors,  the  home 
Secretaryship  of  the  S.  F.  A.  S.,  you  cannot  fail  to 
recognize  in  the  grateful  simplicity  of  the  Patriarchal 
sacrifice,  the  highest  possible  degree  in  attainment 
for  the  demonstration  of  self-abnegation. 

Especially  when  you  consider  that  it  had  been  his 
sole  means  of  support  through  a  long  life  in  a  perfect 
state  of  independence,  until  Mr.  Leslie,  in  grateful  re 
ciprocation  of  his  feoffry  rights  of  pre-emption  to  the 
"landed  property"  of  Saar  Soong,  rendered  the  pos 
session  of  a  tail  honorary,  as  a  means  of  livelihood, 
by  the  cultivation  of  melons,  bananas  and  corn  as  food 
for  his  chang.  By  this  voluntary  act  demonstration  of 
the  value  of  a  head  devoted  to  the  legitimate  object  of 
its  development  in  practical  judgment  against  the  de- 


262  INVESTIGATIONS  AND   EXPERIENCE   OF 

posed  tail  of  transgression,  Mr.  Leslie  made  the  Patri 
arch  feel  that  his  was  a  luxury  that  could  be  dispensed 
with  for  the  relief  of  Bridget's  despondency,  who  had 
lost  faith  in  the  sufficiency  of  her  own  for  the  pennate 
of  angelic  fledgment.  This,  you  will  perceive,  is  a 
theo-r^-ical  root  to  the  trans-action  that  has  afforde^ 
practical  proof  in  demonstration.  Still  there  is  a  sad 
reflection  in  the  thought  that  the  Pafcriarchess,  as  the 
sectarian  representative  of  the  wo-rang,  did  not  assume 
the  preference  of  sacrificial  bestowal  instead  of  the 
Patriarch.  But  this,  in  the  lack  of  positive  evidence, 
may  be  theo-7'c^-ically  accounted  for  by  Patronimick's 
fear  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Patriarchess  to  be 
stow  her  tribute  of  affection  upon  him. 

Perhaps,  in  the  economy  of  Oraog  perception,  this 
premeditated  trans-action  was  intended  as  the  initial 
re-involvement  of  the  species  into  a  happy  state  of 
neutraldoml  Yeo,  there  is  in  the  transaction  an  ap 
pearance  of  experimental  selfishness  on  the  part  of  the 
Patriarchess  characteristic  of  Eve's  fruit  test  with 
Ac?im.  In  civilized  verification,  we  know  that  the 
majority  are  ready  to  sacrifice  the  Eden  comforts  of 
home  for  the  ordinance  rites  of  tail  worship  and 
amuseiijcnt;  and  notwithstanding  their  interdiction 
from  the  oblation  rites  of  intercession  for  regeneration 
by  the  Jews  as  the  cause  of  trangression,  and  ingrati 
tude  to  Adam  who  sacrificed  a  portion  of  his  caudal 
to  procreate  Eve,  they  have  presumed  in  their  eman 
cipated  freedom  to  usurp  with  ingratitude  the  votive 
and  professional  privileges  of  their  lords,  instead  of 
fulfilling  the  creative  de\isement  of  helpmates.  In 
stead  of  heb)- meet  gleaning  in  the  fields,  as  in  the 
patriarchal  days  of  Israelitish  supremacy,  we  know 
that  after  their  eman-cipation  by  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  they  endeavored  to  fulfill  the  destiny  o* 
the  temptation  preached  for  the  beguilement  of  Eve  by 
the  old  Serpent. 

Their  success  in  attracting  chivalric  worship  for  the 
ordinance  rites  of  faith  regeneration,  ushered  in  the 
dark  ages  and  crusades,  with  like  robber  incentives  for 
the  sectarian  multiplication  of  the  Cain-ite  sources  of 
degradation.  This  Amaruthia  accession  of  the  god- 


M.    SHAWTINBACH   IN    SUMATRA.  263 

cless  attributes  of  Serpentic  devisement,  soon  banished 
with  the  torments  of  the  inquisition  the  open  adop 
tion  of  the  exampled  affection  so  sympathetically  man 
ifested  by  the  family  of  Ahmed  Ben  Isaacs.  In  his 
course,  although  trammeled  with  the  embargo  of 
fanatical  superstition,  we  can  recognize  a  man  that 
should  have  been  born  as  a  child  to  Eve,  as  his  head, 
with  exampled  affection,  would  have  commenced  right, 
where  the  rule  of  the  tail  left  off  ;  and  in  defiance  of 
his  mother's  spiteful  revenge  for  the  non-appearance 
in  germ-manic  development  of  her  caudal  expectations, 
would  have  perpetuated  for  ange.ic  perfection  the  rule 
of  an  affectionate  supremacy,  and  annulment  in  the 
beginning  of  the  curse  of  multiplication.  Then,  with 
a  Zera  and  her  sisters  as  affectionate  exemplars,  we 
should  have  been  blessed  at  the  present  day  with  full- 
fledged  angels  as  help-meets,  endowed  with  all  the 
attributes  of  consolation  that  could  be  derived  from 
the  elements  of  perfect  sympathy;  although  bodily 
free  from  the  material  evidences  of  flight,  either  in 
artificial  adaptation  for  faith  atonement,  or  Gibbons' 
re-extension  for  tail  or  tale  reinoculation 

In  the  hopeful  development  of  assured  regeneration, 
I  remain  yours, 

SHAWTIXBACH. 


YB   12497 


